Nature Unleashed
by Shadow Master
Summary: A BtVSIncredible Hulk crossover. Xander has hit the road after graduation and is dead set on seeing as much of America as he can before heading back to Sunnydale. Little does he know that he will not only get his wish but that he will soon view the world
1. Chapter 1

"Nature Unleashed" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email : : This is to inform all who read this that I do not own The Incredible Hulk nor any characters related to it. Nor do I own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters associated with that show. In fact about the only thing I do own is the story itself and nothing else. I am not making any kind of profit from this whatsoever. I am writing this for the enjoyment of both the readers and myself. Therefore it would be much appreciated if you could refrain from any sort of legal action as it is likely to wind up costing you more than you will ever be able to squeeze from me.

Note : I know that those who enjoy my fanfics will likely be asking themselves "What? He's writing another one when he hasn't even finished any of the others?". While I have every intention of finishing my other stories I refuse to try and force myself to finish a new chapter or fanfic if the proverbial 'creative juices' aren't flowing. After all what would be better: a) content that is little more than meaningless filler or b)quality work that adhered to the writer's expected level of quality work? Personally I would choose b. In any case This story came about just yesterday when I was playing the new Incredible Hulk PS2 game and from there came a great idea for a fanfic crossover. Thus here we are about to embark on one of the few Hulk/BtVS crossover fanfics out there. Keep in mind that if I feel like it I might incorporate characters from other Marvel and DC titles but it is unlikely that there will be any consistency between them. In a sense I will be creating a universe for this fanfic that will be entirely of my own creation both in who is in it and what their respective backgrounds are. This may make it complicated but I am confident that I will be able to manage it with the help of a few helpful beta readers. In any case it is time to **smash** our way into the first chapter of this crossover fanfic….

Nature Unleashed 

"Man! Am I glad that I had this thing tuned up before leaving Sunnyhell!" Xander exclaimed as he briefly looked back at the BMW he had almost had a head on collision with.

It was the summer after the snake-a-licious graduation in which he, being the key guy, helped to blow up the Mayor and save the day. Of course he was even more pleased that he got to do what most teenagers in high school dream of doing and that was blowing up their school. It was just a happy coincidence that saving the town and blowing up the school happened to coincide on the same day. In any case once he had told the rest of the gang that he was going on a little road trip across the U S of A he had taken the Cadillac to get tuned up and checked out. There hadn't really been anything wrong with it as far as he could tell since it got him to where he needed to go in Sunnydale but there was a big difference between that and a cross-country road trip. The last thing he needed was for the engine to fall out of the car in the middle of nowhere leaving him to walk to the nearest town for a place to stay. It had taken a sizeable chunk out of his funds but he figured all that would mean would be that half way through his trip he would have to get some kind of a job. It being the summer he had little doubt that he'd be able to find something half decent. Probably a dishwasher or something equally menial but at least it would be honest and decent work unlike some jobs out there. He didn't care how desperate for cash he got there was no way he was going to do anything that chipped away at his pride.

In any case it was turning out to be a wonderful evening as he watched the sun finish setting over the desert landscape of Nevada. He had never really made any kind of plans as far as which state he was going to visit first or which one he would drive to after that. It was pretty much 'decide as you go' for him and he kinda liked it that way. Even if it was in a rather pathetic and trivial way he was the master of his own fate, the chooser of his own destiny, and after all the years of teachers telling him what to do in school it was nice. His first choice of where to go was good ol' Las Vegas, the city of lights, where gambling was a way of life and there was that real cool show with the tigers. The one thing he'd have to watch out for there was the three taboos that got most of the Harris clan in trouble including his parents. Gambling, Drinking and numerous one night stands with loose women were the three great vices of the Harris clan and there were precious few members who manage keep themselves from falling victim to one of those three. There was even an old joke among the family members that if a member of the Harris family ever fell victim to all three he or she would be dead within a year for certain.

_Well this is one Harris that isn't going to get chained to any of them!_ Xander thought bitterly as he remembered how those vices affected his immediate family members.

After turning on the radio and letting some cool tunes keep him company on the lonely road he had only been listening for ten minutes before he spotted something down the road. It looked like he wasn't the only one traveling the highway this evening but apparently he was the only one who had thought to make sure his car was in tip top condition. As he got closer and closer the details of the vehicle he had spotted became clearer and he discovered that it was a Ford Explorer that he had spotted. However as he crossed the two hundred yard mark to the car it was not the car that caught his attention but the lithe form bent underneath the raised hood instead. Long athletic female legs rose above the ground covered only by a pair of sandals on the feet and a pair of worn in jean shorts. Needless to say his interest was caught as any young man with a pulse would be and using a good deed as justification he brought his car up behind the woman about eight feet from her.

Getting out of the car he began to walk towards her but no sooner had he passed the front fender of his car than he found himself staring down the barrels of three revolvers. The first was in the hands of the young woman, roughly his age, who had lured him in. The second was from a guy who had come around from the right side of the Explorer and fit the description of an angry former employee right down to the whisker covered face and messy hair. The other was an African American with dreadlocks but apparently was better off in the financial department than whisker boy was for the most part. All in all they had him good as there was no way he was going to be able to get back into his car and drive off without getting a forceful injection of lead for his trouble. Keeping his hands in the air he watched as they unloaded a few bags and a plastic toolbox from their vehicle and dumped it into his car. Judging from the way the two men were hurrying along and how the woman who had suckered him kept sneaking glances at the setting sun he suspected they were on a timetable of some kind. Which was kinda weird because unless they knew when the next highway patrol was about to come down this particular stretch it seemed to him like they had all the time in the world. The only possibility that he could come up with was that hijacking his car wasn't their primary goal this night but rather a means to an end. Maybe that was something that he could use to his advantage somehow.

"Okay we got most of the crucial stuff Betty. I doubt this old gas guzzler will be able to carry much more and still be as fast as we need it to be." Mr. Disgruntled said as he put the toolbox down in the back seat.

"You idiot! I thought we agreed we wouldn't be using names!" the African American exclaimed as if he couldn't believe his comrade could be that stupid.

"Like the entire military won't know who we are with her along!" , Mr. Disgruntled said sarcastically, "You know they're going to have the thing under video surveillance with night vision lenses on them. Telling this yahoo won't make any difference."

"Maybe so but keep the talking to a minimum Rick. Just because they'll know who sabotaged their little project doesn't mean we should give this guy any info that can be interrogated out of him later by army grunts." Betty said not taking her eyes of her target one little bit.

_She's good. Not one chance for a surprise attack the entire time._ Xander thought to himself as he watched the African American and 'Rick' hop in the back seat of his Cadillac.

"Sorry for leaving you in the lurch like this Brown Eyes but we have an appointment to keep and not a lot of time to get there." , Betty said as she slowly began to approach him, "Now how about you hand over they keys without making any trouble and we can all keep this from getting any more unpleasant than it already is."

"No." Xander stated calmly.

"Look I don't want to have to hurt you pal but I don't have time to argue this with you!" Betty declared while trying to look more serious about her threat.

"I understand but look at the situation you're leaving me in here. I'd be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food and only a broken down Explorer for shelter." , Xander explained while trying to keep his voice sounding casual, "No food that I can see and no guarantee that anyone will come by and take me to the next down anytime soon. So basically you're asking me to choose between a bullet in the brain, hypothermia due to the rapidly decreasing temperatures or starvation in the middle of nowhere. If those are my choices then please just put me out of my misery now and shoot me."

_Oh yeah! I'm nuts!_ Xander thought with no little bit of fear as his mind began to calculate the odds as to whether or not Betty would actually pull the trigger.

Still he was pretty sure he had these guys pegged right as basically good people who thought that they were doing the right thing. Betty was doing a pretty good impression of a stone cold mercenary with the way she was keeping all emotions off her face but he could see the truth in her eyes. She didn't want to hurt him any more than he wanted to **be** hurt but she was obviously torn between whatever it was she and her pals needed to do and not killing him. For awhile it was a proverbial standoff with neither him nor Betty making a move or giving any sign of what was going on inside their heads. Rick and the African American were just looking on apparently willing to see how this played out in the next few seconds before ending the stalemate themselves. Eventually the young woman called Betty sighed and lowered her gun before turning walking towards the passenger side of the car.

"Get in the car. You're driving." She said as she hopped over the passenger side door and into the front seat.

"Wha?" Xander asked slightly confused by her demand and he could tell from the sounds behind him that both the African American guy and Rick were surprised as well.

"Well you said you didn't want to be left in the middle of nowhere and you have the only keys to the car." , Betty explained in a manner reserved for dumb people, "Besides if you come with us you might be able to avoid being interrogated by the army after the mission is completed."

Xander knew quite well from his temporary possession by The Soldier on Halloween how most people were interrogated by the military. It got worse the more closer you got in their minds to being an accomplice than an innocent civilian and he had no wish to spend a few months in solitary confinement 'thinking their offer over'. So without further prompting he briskly walked back to the car and got into the driver's seat before asking Betty the most important question he could ask at the moment.

"So where to doll face?" he asked with his usual lopsided grin.

Military Mobile Command Center, 12 Minutes Later 

"You better hope this invention of yours works Banner." General Thunderbolt Ross said as he looked at the stacked monitors in front of him.

On each screen was another image of the device that was to be detonated in little over an hour with each camera positioned so that nothing would be missed from start to finish. The device itself was essentially just a nuclear bomb but what made it experimental was the fact that it was half the size your usual nuclear warhead and had newly discovered G-crystals incorporated into it. According to Banner's brief on the device the crystals somehow made the bomb more efficient energy wise so that a person could get two to three times the bang for half the size of your normal nuke. Add to that fact that the crystals somehow absorbed the stray radiation from the plutonium inside and it made the device much easier to transport and virtually undetectable using conventional methods. All in all it would give America a significant advantage over its enemies if it worked. The reason that Ross was in such a bad mood was because he had the most to lose if this thing turned out to be a dud. While it had not originally been his project he was the general that had been running the show the longest. A friend of his had been in charge before him and had managed to convince Ross that it was a solid idea and worth backing. When Thunderbolt had asked his 'friend' why he was passing it along the reason had been that the top brass wanted someone stricter at the wheel. While that had been a feasible reason then he now believed it had been an attempt by the brass to quietly put him out to pasture without too much fuss. That just made Ross even more determined to make sure this proto-type nuke was a success as it would throw those bureaucrats' plan right back in their faces.

"Don't worry General. I have every faith that my invention will mark a cornerstone in history." , Banner replied while typing away on his laptop, "Think of how this technology could benefit mankind! Nuclear reactors will drop in size but maintain their necessary energy output! The possibilities are endless."

"Yeah, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Until this bomb goes off without any problems I don't even want to think of what will happen in the future." , Ross grumbled as he noticed the approach of a lieutenant he had spoken to earlier in the day, "Better to keep our eyes on the present where they belong."

"General Ross. The errand you asked me to run has been accomplished." The Lieutenant said while at complete attention.

"Any chance of the concerned parties fouling it up?" Ross asked and was relieved when the young man seemed to understand the hidden meaning of the words.

"No sir. Everything should be fine until at least 2200 hours." , The Lieutenant replied confidently, "Also I took the liberty of arranging for some extra help in case something goes wrong."

If Ross was hearing the Lieutenant right he was more or less saying that while it was true his rebellious daughter's car was rigged to give out and was impossible to fix until at least ten in the evening aide had been arranged in case she couldn't fix the engine on her own. Nodding at the lieutenant to dismiss him he let out a mental sigh of relief that his daughter Betty wouldn't be able to make it to the prototype nuke in time to do anything to it. Not that she'd likely appreciate the lengths he went to keep her safe and out of trouble but it was for her own good until she outgrew this rebellious phase she was in. Betty had been such a darling little girl until puberty hit and then it was one argument after another between the two of them. They were barely able to tolerate each other's company and if any sensitive subjects came up in discussion that they were on opposite sides of it was almost guaranteed to get ugly. The heaviest blow though came just last year when she had not only graduated from high school but also turned eighteen which meant she was of legal age to make her own decisions and be held accountable for them. His little spitfire of course hadn't wasted any time exercising this right to choose and moved out within a month to stay with some friends in a barely satisfactory apartment. A number of his relatives had prodded him into trying to fix his relationship with Betty but when she stopped answering his phone calls he knew that a temporary retreat was in order.

That of course didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye on her and try to keep her from getting into too much trouble. He had called in some favors from friends in the intelligence business and asked them to monitor his wayward daughter but to keep this arrangement under the table so to speak. The men could be trusted as he had more than a few mounds of dirt on them to make them reconsider any ideas of betraying him. He had made sure he had plenty of ammunition to use against them before he had even approached them with the request. If they tried to blackmail him or sell the information about his daughter to his enemies they would find hell preferable to where he'd send them.

About two months ago he had received a file from one of the observers that his daughter had joined up with some kind of environmentalist group called 'The Green Dawn'. They were a harmless enough group with nothing more serious on their records than destruction of government property at protest rallies. However evidence had recently been discovered that the group was about to take huge leap away from those activities and actually try something seriously criminal. It had only been a few days ago that he had been told that Betty and a few other members were heading in this direction and that left him little in the way of doubts as to what they were intending to do. So he had discreetly taken the Lieutenant aside and asked him to tamper with his daughter's Ford Explorer so that it would give out an hour or so after being turned on. Given that the test site for the prototype nuke was almost two hours away by car there was no way she could run the distance in time to interfere in any way. The Lieutenant's effort to ensure that Betty would receive some roadside assistance if she couldn't fix the problem on her own took an added wait off his shoulders as it meant he would not have to deal with that himself. He loved his daughter dearly but he was also aware that any meeting between the two of them now would only end badly. Better to help her from afar then to try to fix things in person and only make things worse.

"General Ross, sir, technicians report that the observation equipment is online and the prototype is ready for deployment." Said a communications technician from the comm. Gear.

"Very well. Inform them to set the timer for one hour and then to proceed immediately to the safe zones." Ross ordered as he looked the technician right in the eyes.

"Yes sir!" The Technician said before turning back to the equipment in order to follow his orders.

"Well since we have some time to spare General I think I'll go grab a quick bite to eat before the show starts." Banner said as he placed the clipboard he had been holding onto a nearby table.

Ross only harrumphed at this with his opinion of glasses wearing eggheads going down another notch.

Dirt Road off the Main Highway, 10 Minutes Later 

"Don't worry. Once this is all over you'll be free to go." , Betty said as she took in the sour look on Brown Eyes' face, "I'm sure once they take a look at the security footage and see that we have guns pointed at you all they'll want is a statement. So chill and enjoy the show."

Unfortunately this did little to improve the driver's mood as he continued to just look straight ahead and follow the directions she and the guys gave him. Not that she could really blame him for his mood given that they had hijacked him at gunpoint and weren't being overly honest about what it was they were up to but secrecy had been necessary. The less they told him the less that her dad and his military monkey's could pry out of him or perhaps even suspect that he had. This was as much for his protection as was for the Green Dawn's protection. If they completely spilled the beans then the army wouldn't let him go until they had extracted every tidbit of information they could from his mind. Not only would this severely compromise Green Dawn's efforts to protect the environment but she doubted the military morons interrogating Brown Eyes would be all too gentle about how they got the information in the first place. If they thought he knew nothing though and was merely a victim of circumstance they'd still give him a grilling but in the end he would be set free. So all in all it would be the best for all concerned to keep from getting too friendly or familiar with one another. Checking her watch she saw that it was roughly fifty minutes until the prototype nuke that the Green Dawn's informant inside the military said was being tested today would go off. That meant that assuming this old car didn't give out on them anytime soon they should get to nuke in time to seriously cross some wires.

Their overall plan for this mission was to either a) sabotage the device so that it looked like a design flaw and force the eggheads to go back to the drawing board or b) steal the key components and once analyzed send the plans to every nation in the world. The idea behind plan b was partially the concept of M.A.D (mutually assured destruction) and partially the belief that the United States military would try and bury the project. After all there had to be a treaty or pact between the various nations of the world that prohibited the invention of new and deadlier nuclear devices. Once it was even suggested that America was trying to come up with something like that the military would do everything it could to destroy anything that could confirm the idea. True a few nations might pursue the new technology despite M.A.D and the U.S' denial of its existence but they were all pretty sure that America had everything necessary already under lock and key. From what their informant had explained one of the key parts of this new bomb were some kind of rare crystals that were extremely hard to come by even on the department of defense's budget. Uncle Sam probably already had an iron clad contract with whoever had discovered them as well as made sure the site was under constant surveillance. If that was the case then it was highly unlikely that any other nation would be able to get their hands on them.

In any case it was something that had to be done before the American military machine decided this new weapon gave them the edge they needed to start another war. While the desk jockeys and military representatives would likely state that the tech was being developed for non-military applications she knew nothing had them drooling more than a new way of killing people. Any other possible uses would only be explored once every tactical possibility had been explored and exploited and by then a great deal of damage would already be done to the environment as well as the human race. The bombs would kill and the radiation left over from the blast would contaminate the area around ground zero for years with no guarantee that any kind of clean up would ever be done. All in all the creation for a smaller, more powerful, nuke would spell death and sickness for everyone and everything if it got past the testing phase.

_Well after tonight those idiots will have no choice but to see things my way! _Betty thought as she saw the first landmark their informant had told them to look out for.

It would have been more convenient for them if their informant had managed an actual map but he had stated that while security around the project wasn't great it would raise quite a few red flags if he made a map of the testing area and how to get there. The most he had been able to do was point out a few recognizable rock formations and cliffs with directions like 'turn left' or 'go three miles' to make sure they were going in the right direction. Still so far everything had shown up right when the guy had said they would so she was inclined to believe that they were on the right path. It wasn't a smooth ride by anyone's definition, especially given what they were all riding in, but it was at a decent enough speed that she didn't see the need to tell Brown Eyes to pour on the gas.

All that was left to do now was wait.

_**Army Mobile Command Center, Fifteen minutes Later**_

"Sir we have a breach on the western perimeter!" a technician declared intensely as he brought the relevant tactical information up on the various monitors.

_I've got a bad feeling about this._ General Ross thought as he turned away from the bureaucratic paper work he had yet to finish to see what the problem was.

The screens mostly displayed a loose topographical map of the test area with several dots of different colors to indicate the positions of personnel and equipment. At the moment a red dot indicating an intruder was framed in targeting crosshairs with data like speed as well as both longitude and latitude co-ordinates next to the crosshairs. It wasn't moving all that faster which to him indicated that it was likely a car or some other land based form of transportation. Unfortunately he had a sinking feeling that his wayward daughter was in that vehicle and was on her way to the prototype neo-nuke with her Green Dawn pals to try something. Sure it could be another team of eco-extremists or some idiot out for a joyride in the middle of the desert but somehow he doubted it could be that simple or that favorable to his career.

"Can we get a visual of the intruder?" he asked since he knew that there were several cameras posted around ground zero feeding images for the official records.

"One moment General." The technician replied as he worked the keyboard in front of him.

A few minutes later a grainy image appeared on the screen but it did show what appeared to be a Cadillac driving across the desert towards the neo-nuke. The car was too far away to clearly identify who was in the vehicle but he could see that there were indeed four people in the automobile. This puzzled him slightly as his information stated that Betty's group totaled three including herself but according to the image on the screen there was a mystery fourth member added to their band. It made him wonder if she had anticipated his interference and arranged to have a back up car in place.

"Can you zoom in and enhance the image any?" Ross asked the technician with some concern.

He wanted to make sure of who was actually in the car before he issued out any orders since if it did turn out to be Betty he would have to find some non-lethal way of stopping her. Usually on operations like this lethal force was permitted since these matters were considered important to national security. As far as he was concerned though any man who tried to kill his daughter would be cleaning out latrines 'til doomsday if he had any say in it. Still he knew that there was only so much he could do to protect her without making his superiors angry or flushing his career down the toilet.

"Just a moment General." The Technician replied as several frames of the video feed were turned into pictures and then underwent the process of enlargement and enhancement.

It took awhile but by the time that the process was half done and therefore half the picture was finished his suspicions were confirmed as his daughter's face was readily visible in the picture. He let out a disappointed sigh as he pondered the kind of trouble this would get him into and how much of it would be of his own making in trying to keep his daughter safe. He would call in a few favors and bully a few low level officers and that would hopefully make certain that either his daughter was completely left out of the official report or at least written down as an unwitting dupe. He just hoped that those boys standing guard just outside the inner perimeter would be able to stop her before she got to the neo-nuke or else keeping her out of prison would be that much harder.

"Order the guards stationed around the inner perimeter to move in and intercept the intruders." , Ross ordered with the utmost command authority, "Tell them they are to use non-lethal force only. I want these intruders taken alive."

For a moment it look as though the technician was about to ask the question 'why alive sir?' but he quickly saw the look in his superior's eyes and decided it would be safer to just obey. Ross knew that he would have to come up with some kind of practical military reason for issuing those orders in order to stem the line of questioning this course of action would provoke in his superiors. At the moment all he could come up with was that he suspected that there might be an mole inside their operation helping the intruders and he wanted to question them to find out who it was. That was true for the most part since the date, time and location of the test had been highly classified by military intelligence so only someone on the inside with a high enough security clearance level would be able to get the information. However as to who the mole might be he had no idea since most of the people here were military personnel he had chosen himself. The only civilians were Dr. Banner and a few members of the tech crew as they were more familiar with the device and tests of this nature than anyone in the military. However he highly doubted that Banner would help a group of malcontents sabotage his own invention especially when he had as much riding on this as the military itself.

In any case he just wanted this situation resolved before it got too complicated. Complications were never fun especially in his line of work.

Xander's Car, Twelve Minutes Later 

_Something tells me I'm going to have one helluva repair bill when this is all over!_ Xander thought to himself as the car rocked up and down as it went at high speeds over the uneven terrain.

It had been a relatively smooth ride after they left the highway but that was more due to the fact that he had been taking it slow so that he wouldn't do any more damage to the underside of his car than was absolutely necessary. That had changed however when the men with the guts and the military fatigues started shooting at them and so here he was zigging and zagging across the desert floor while trying to stay on course. Needless to say he figured the only way something positive could come from his car after this was over was to sell it for scrap metal. After all it would take far too much money to repair it after this debacle and that left selling it for scrap the only way he could benefit from this. Of course he could always insist that these guys pay for the damages but considering that they were the ones holding the guns and the ones who saw him as expendable he wasn't about to jump into that fire anytime soon.

Whatever his future situation turned out to be his present one was not looking too good as the hood of his car was beginning to look like Swiss cheese and he was mentally thanking God for every second the engine kept running. As far as making any progress towards their destination he was still clueless as to what exactly that was but given how excited and impatient his 'passengers' were getting they had to be pretty close. However that only made them more insistent that he drive the car faster and get them there sooner rather than later. Kinda hard to do though when you don't want to run anyone over or get too close to the guns but seeing as how the hijackers' guns were closer than the military's guns he did the best he could.

Eventually though Betty seemed to have enough of the delays.

"Robbie! Toss out three cans of tear gas **now**!" Betty ordered in a way women generally only behaved during **that** time of the month.

"Betty! We need these to make our getaway!" Rick yelled out loud as he was clearly not a big fan of losing their way out supplies.

"We don't have time to worry about that right now! If we don't hurry our mission will be a failure anyways!" , Betty retorted with the patented female 'glare' that all women seemed to possess, "Now throw 'em!"

Sighing in a way that made it clear he expected them all to be caught and in prison before the sun rose Rick reached into a duffel bag in the back seat and pulled out three canisters. Pulling the pins he tossed them over as wide an area as possible to make sure they had a big entry point to drive through and in seconds everything was blanketed in a cloud of chemicals guaranteed to cause eyes to water and coughs to occur. Most of the shooting stopped as none of the soldiers apparently wanted to shoot their comrades by accident but a few still shot aimlessly in the cloud in the hopes of hitting something. Still it was a pretty smart move as it would save his car from any more bullet holes but it would also make driving through it hazardous since he wouldn't be able to see where he was going either.

"Drive through!" ordered Betty still possessing the determination to see this mission through to the end.

"What? But I might hit one of those guys!" Xander exclaimed not wanting to go to prison for vehicular manslaughter because of her.

"Then turn on the headlights! That should give them enough warning to get out of the way!" Betty said as though his concerns were trivial at best.

Growling in frustration at his 'between a rock and a hard case' situation he did as she suggested and flipped on the car's headlights. He would have felt better if they were brighter but they didn't think of that when they designed this car. Bringing them back on their original course he pushed down on the accelerator as far as he dared without making it impossible for those in the tear gas cloud to get out of the way. When they entered the cloud he was as blind as a bad and he was pretty much driving blind with all the tears in his eyes and the hacking cough hitting him every few seconds. Eventually though they managed to break through to the other side and he was sure his lungs were happy with that for sure. As a side bit of luck only a few of the soldiers they had encountered had managed to stumble out of the cloud but none of them were in any condition to slow them down. Before too long they had left all opposition literally in their dust and were back on course for their destination.

"How long until the specified time Robbie?" Betty asked as she focused her eyes on the land in front of them.

"We got about nineteen minutes before its set to go off." , Robbie replied looking at his own watch to confirm his estimate, "We should have plenty of time as long as nothing holds us up."

"Um, when you say 'go off' I hope you mean a rocket and not what I think you mean." Xander said as he began to figure out what his passengers' mission was all about.

"I mean 'go off' as in a prototype cutting edge nuke that can apparently deliver twice the punch at half the size of a normal nuke." , Robbie replied apparently unconcerned about telling him anything, "We're here to either send them back to the drawing board or make sure M.A.D comes into play by mailing the modifications of the bomb to every world power we can."

"Wouldn't that kinda be bad in the nuclear Armageddon sort of way?" Xander asked as his mind boggled at the implications of what he had been told.

"Not really. If every nation in the world had the plans then no one would have a real edge over their neighbors or their enemies." , Robbie replied as he pulled some papers out of the duffel bag and began to review them, "The real danger would be to let the United States be the sole possessor of this technology. They'd see it as a chance to rattle their war saber a little more and bully other nations around. After all who would oppose a country that could slip a nuke the size of a thermos into your country undetected?"

"As long as every nation had this tech M.A.D or mutually assured destruction would come into play and no one would want to risk global devastation on that level." Betty said putting in her two cents.

_Unless of course you consider the fanatics and the terrorists that don't give a rat's ass about anyone or anything aside from their 'cause'!_ Xander thought to himself as he recalled the number of terrorist cells and militia groups who had 'acquired' nukes in the past.

Still he had to admit that if the military did manage to put out a smaller but just as potent nuke and add it to their arsenal it would be questionable as to whether or not they'd resist the temptation to use it. As a wise person once said 'those who have power often seek to use it' and this new bomb would definitely qualify as something powerful. If he could he would try to persuade them not to mail the plans for the upgrades to other countries but rather just threaten the government with that course of action instead. After all why do something so drastic if the threat alone would be enough to get them to mothball the project. Still until they actually got to the bomb and decided on a course of action there wasn't anything he could do aside from follow Betty's orders and try not to get shot.

_Something tells me I woulda been safer spending my summer with Willow in Sunnydale!_ Xander thought with a sigh as he much preferred the usual hellmouthy problems to this situation.

Four Minutes Later, Army Mobile Command Center 

"Intruders have made it past the perimeter guards!" the technician reported as transmissions from those same guards came in over the speakers.

"Damn it! Radio the guards on the northern perimeter to head for the prototype and to guard it with their lives!" Ross roared as he mentally cursed both himself and those fools for failing in their duty.

"It won't do any good General Ross! Those guards are all on foot and it would take them at least twenty minutes at a good run to make it to ground zero!" The technician said shaking his head at the bad situation.

"Blast!" Ross exclaimed slamming a fist down on the table in frustration.

This pretty much clinched the fact that he would have some explaining to do when he stood in front of the committee and tried to explain this screw up. Unless something dramatic happened in the next few minutes his daughter was going to succeed in reaching the neo nuke. From that point on who knew what she and her merry band of environmental activists would do in pursuit of their ideals. They might do anything from steal the device and sell it to just take it somewhere else and detonate it. He didn't believe his daughter Betty knew the Green Dawn's true intentions where the neo nuke was concerned. They probably fed her some fairy tale that was perfectly honorable and just without any evil act associated with it whatsoever. She always seemed to think that if she felt passionately about something that others involved in the same cause would think the same way she did. Either that or something close enough that they would have no trouble coming up with a compromise of some kind. It never crossed her mind that they might be willing to cross some lines that she would never even consider no matter how dire the situation. He had tried in the past to enlighten her about it but it wound up just getting her more and more angry with him so eventually he decided just to try and be there to clean up the mess afterwards. This mess however had the potential to be too big for anyone short of the President of the United States to cover up.

"Sir! I am showing another vehicle entering the testing zone!" the technician declared with some surprise.

"What? Where did it come from?" Ross asked as he began to wonder if today was simply his day for bad luck.

"It came from this direction! From the direction of the command center!" the technician replied with steadily elevating surprise.

"Get the vehicle on the screen **NOW**!" Ross yelled since he was almost sure that the person heading to the neo nuke was the mole.

The Tech worked vigorously to comply but let out a surprised yelp before turning to his superior.

"I can't sir! Something is preventing me from establishing a link with the surveillance cameras!" the Tech stated with fear of court marshal or demotion in his eyes.

"WHAT!" Ross yelled with disbelief at how the situation was quickly deteriorating.

This could simply not be happening to him! The odds of a mission going so completely F.U.B.A.R so quickly was staggering and there was no way he was going to lose without a fight.

"Mobilize all forces and order them to converge on the neo nuke!" , Ross ordered with fire in his eyes, "We may have failed to keep the intruders out of the test zone but I'll be damned if I'm going to let them just waltz out of here!"

It was a gamble though. At this point there was roughly thirteen minutes before the neo nuke was set to go off. That was just barely enough time for the troops to get there much less secure the intruders. He just had to pray that Betty and her friends weren't the suicidal sort and would somehow manage to defuse the bomb shortly after their arrival. If they did not there was no way that anyone would be able to get to a safe distance before the nuke went off. So it was either disarm the nuke or get blown to bits and since he was sure his daughter was relatively sane he was fairly certain that she would be able to persuade her friends to help her disarm it. Hopefully once the soldiers arrived they'd be able to also discover who the mole was and put an end to the fiasco that this operation had turned into. One way or another this was going to cost him. He just hoped that his daughter appreciated all the trouble he went through from month to month to keep her safe and out of trouble.

_Not likely._ He thought to himself as memories of her reaction to his last intervention sprang up in his mind.

Six Minutes Later, Ground Zero 

"Alright Rick! Time to do your thing!" Betty said as they came to a stop twenty feet from their target.

"Just be quick about it though. We got about seven minutes before this thing goes off." Robbie said as he looked down at his watch with a little anxiety beginning to show itself.

"Don't worry! I went to M.I.T remember." , Rick said as he grabbed a tool box on the floor of the backseat and jumped out of the car, "The day I can't work my magic is the day that we see you in a dress."

"Ew! Thanks for the imagery!" Betty said as an image of Robbie in a tiny black dress appeared in her mind.

"Just do your job egghead!" Robbie said angrily as he took up a guard position in case they had any unexpected company.

Not that there was much chance of that happening. She had been the one to lay down most of the groundwork for this operation because her father, the great General 'Thunderbolt' Ross was representing the military for this experiment. She hadn't liked the fact that she had been selected for this assignment because of her father but it had in the end proven useful. While she might not particularly like her father because of his obsession with his career and serving a government no longer representative of the people she could say that she knew him better than anyone else. She knew how he tended to think and that had allowed her to predict how he'd arrange the guards around this device as well as how he'd react once he found out she was here. The sabotage of their Explorer out on the highway had been the only real hitch in the mission here was she hadn't expected that he'd learn of her being in the area until they were already making their way through the desert. Obviously he had her under much better surveillance than she had previously thought and if she wanted to get rid of her father's hired shadows she'd have to get a bit more inventive in the future with her evasion tactics. Still despite the set backs they had made it in time and if Rick could deliver as he promised he could they should be out of here inside of five minutes. After all while the schematics and other important pieces of information about nuclear bombs weren't exactly available to the public there were ways of acquiring it for the right price. Also when you took into account how a nuke worked then there were some parts of the design that were absolute and would remain the same no matter what. Combined with Rick's M.I.T brain and defusing the bomb shouldn't be all that difficult.

No the real problem was what to do afterwards. She knew that she had said that their primary job was to send the eggheads back to the drawing board but she wasn't sure that was an option anymore. The guards that they'd encountered earlier had been expecting them. That meant that her father knew she was there and had an idea of what she intended to do. Therefore trying to modify the bomb to make it look like a dud or have it malfunction in order to have the military scrub the project was unlikely. With the knowledge that there were intruders present any 'design flaws' or 'malfunctions' would be attributed to tampering rather than the device itself. That left only memorizing the modifications and then sending the information all over the planet but she was uncertain whether they had that kind of time. By now her father had likely ordered every available soldier to converge on this location. That meant that their only course of action would be to take the nuke with them and study it elsewhere. If their informant's info was right then they should be able to escape with it and remain undetected from military eyes. After all if it was invisible to satellites scanning for certain radiation signatures as they had been told than once they escaped it would take quite a bit of legwork to find them again.

_Still things could have been worse._ Betty thought to herself as she looked over at Brown Eyes wondering what he would do when all this was over with.

"Uh oh!" Rick said in a tone that no one present liked very much at all.

"'Uh oh'? What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Robbie asked as he turned to look at Rick.

"I hate it when people say 'uh oh'." , Brown Eyes said as he glanced nervously between the three of them, "Normally because people tend to say 'oh crap!' next."

"Rick? What's wrong?" Betty said calmly trying to keep the others likewise calm instead of watching them freak out.

"Well it's no biggy. It's just that the timer has distinctly picked up its pace and I can't seem to stop it." Rick replied in perfect deadpan even though he was probably on the verge of panic.

"**WHAT!**" everyone exclaimed including Brown Eyes who started cursing in different languages right away.

"Hey it's not my fault! That Banner geek who built this thing must be insane with all the modifications and jury rigging in this thing!" , Rick said as he kept his eyes and his hands focused on their task, "It was a mess in there but I still thought that I could defuse the damn thing without tripping anything!"

"Then undo whatever it was that caused the wire to speed up NOW!" Robbie yelled as he seemed to mentally restrain himself from going over and throttling Rick.

"I already tried that idiot! It didn't work!" , Rick yelled back angrily with rising anxiety in his voice, "The best thing I can do now is try and reset the control mainframe and hope that that stops the countdown. I just hope that I can do it in the five minutes we got left!"

Needless to say the swearing potency coming from Brown Eyes went up a level and while most of the words were gibberish to her she could definitely pick out some Latin in the mix. Personally she couldn't really blame him for his behavior because she felt like cursing up a storm as well but held it in for the sake of the group. In the midst of this fear and impending doom someone had to keep a level head and keep the group from going nuts. Since the others had jumped into the 'scared/panicked' boat before she could that meant she was stuck with the job.

"Just stay focused and try not to get ahead of yourself Rick! You won't help anyone by becoming scatterbrained all of a sudden!" , Betty ordered before turning to Robbie, "Robbie! If we needed to what is the absolute minimum distance we would need to be from this thing before it went off in order to survive?"

It took him a moment but eventually he replied "Well this isn't exactly your Hiroshima type nuke. No way the Feds or the government would condone the use of a missile type nuke for a test like this." , Robbie said as he gained some measure of calmness from reviewing the facts, "Probably it's the smallest yield nuke they got since the blast will wind up being magnified by the crystals in there. My guess is unless we want to be fried extra crispy we want to be at least three kilometers away from ground zero. Usually it'd be more but I figure if we can get this thing below sea level, into one of the canyons or valleys near here the stone walls should absorb most of the damage and take the edge off for us."

"You mean we'd have to drive it someplace before ditching it?" asked Betty as the look on her friend's face didn't exactly look comforting.

"Hell yeah! Even if we burned rubber in that junk heap right now there's no way we'd be able to escape the blast in time. We might escape the worst of it but that would still mean slow death by radiation burns which ain't pretty! Only way for any of us to save our collective skins is to drive the nuke east and floor the accelerator. Even then the driver would be going on a suicide mission since there's no way he'd get clear of the blast in time." Robbie said with fear in his voice as everything in his head was telling him they were screwed.

_This is **not** good!_ Betty thought as she looked back over to Rick to see if he was having any luck. However judging from his ever more frantic movements the answer was no.

It was at times like these she almost wished that she had listened to her father and stayed away from this sort of thing. Almost.

Xander's P.O.V, A Moment After Betty's Thought 

_Lord I know I probably shouldn't have had sex with Faith outside of wedlock but I think punishing me by nuclear explosion is a little extreme!_ Xander thought to himself as he watched the wonder trio try and fix this screw up.

That was what he had pretty much been thinking ever since Rick had told everyone about their 'little complication' and it had only gotten worse once Robbie had told everyone what the minimum safe distance would be. The rest of the African American's explanation hadn't exactly filled him with confidence either since one way or another he'd lose his car. Not that his car was at the top of his list of things he wanted to survive a nuclear blast but without a car he'd probably be captured by the military for sure after the explosion. True he was just an innocent bystander in all of this but they'd probably still lock him away for aiding and abetting known terrorists or maybe just for seeing a secret military device. There would be no way that he'd be able to escape them on foot or even make it to the next town if he was somehow able to evade the soldiers. In short he had a choice to make: spend who knew how many years in prison or get killed in the center of a nuclear inferno. In a way it was something of a no brainer if he was concerned only for himself. If he gave himself up to the military there was a chance, however slim, that they might believe his story of being hijacked and when added to his school records they might just let him go. After all just because he saw the device didn't mean he understood it or could make his own if he wanted. He just barely graduated with the rest of his class in June and science was quite possibly his worst subject aside from math. Once they figured that out there was a chance they'd see him as just a nuisance and be content just to have him sign the usual non-disclosure papers or other agreements. All they cared about was not letting their secret get out. As long as they had that the rest was inconsequential to them.

_I hope!_ Xander thought grimly as he watched Rick's pace increase.

On the other hand though he'd be leaving who ever did drive his car off into the nuclear sunset to die. Not that he was really 'friends' with them or anything like that but for some reason he knew he'd feel like a world class heel if he just let one of them commit suicide. A suicide he could prevent by taking the nuke himself and driving away from here as quickly as possible in order to save the rest of them. It was a classic dilemma: if you could save a person who wanted to commit suicide by giving up your own life would you do it? Even if the person was a complete stranger? Most people he wanted to believe would be good enough to at least try to talk the person down but only a rare compassionate few would actually put their own lives in jeopardy to save them. That left a question to be answered in him. Was he the type of person who only put as much effort into saving someone as necessary in order not to look bad or was he the type of person who gave his all in everything he did? Given the fact that he had patrolled almost every night with Buffy and the others as well as fighting demons that could quite easily kill him the answer was obvious.

_Well I better get on with this while I still have the nerve!_ Xander thought as he got out of the car and began to move towards the bomb.

"Where do you think you're going?" Robbie asked as he brought his gun up to bear on the Zeppo.

"To get the bomb into the car so I can get it out of here since it seems tweedle-dumb here can't stop it from going ka-boom." Xander replied as he continued to walk towards the device.

"What? Get it out of here?" Betty exclaimed in shock.

"You heard what your buddy Robbie said right?" , Xander asked her rhetorically, "Since the chances of Ricky here being able to defuse the thing are slim to none right now there's only one choice here. Unless of course one of you want to see what a nuclear blast looks like at ground zero."

"Give me another minute! I know I can stop it!" Rick demanded as he seemed almost obsessed with not letting this machine beat him.

"Sorry Rick! Better luck next time." Xander said as he began to detach the bomb from the sensors attached to it as well as Rick's laptop.

He pretty much ignored everyone else from there on in and once he had unhooked all the wires and cables ran back to his car as the time left on the bomb was less than he had hoped for. Placing it gently in the passenger side seat he closed the driver's side door and started up the car. Before he could leave though someone grabbed him firmly by the left arm as if to stop him from going. Not entirely bright considering that if he pressed down on the gas the person would wind up being dragged across the desert floor for a little while before eventually letting go. Turning to this person he was a little surprised to find out it was Betty and she had a weird look on her face that he couldn't exactly classify. On the surface it looked like confusion, which was understandable when a perfect stranger said he was willing to die to save them, but there was something else there as well.

"Why are you doing this? You don't have to be the one to die with the nuke." , Betty asked with confusion, "Any one of the rest of us could do it. Why die for people you don't even know and who less than an hour ago kidnapped you?"

"Wish I had a straight answer for you. All I can say is that according to my friends I have a White Knight complex the size of North America and I'm not the type to let a pretty young woman like you get blown up if I can help it." , Xander replied as he was finding difficult to put the reasons for his decision into words, "Besides it's either get blown up in a flash of light or spend the rest of my life eating prison food. Needless to say I don't want to find out the hard way if they really do test new school cafeteria menus in prison before they pass it on nation wide."

This caused a smile to appear on her face and then before he knew what was happening she kissed him on the cheek before stepping away from the car.

"That was for luck. I figure that it would be wrong to let a cute guy like you drive off into the great beyond without at least a goodbye kiss." Betty said with a wink.

"Wow! I bet heaven's going to look pretty tame after a kiss like that!" , Xander said with mock seriousness, "See ya later Betty!"

With those words Xander pressed down hard on the accelerator and shot off away from both the area that was ground zero and away from anyone who might get hurt when the nuke went off. Needless to say he knew that one way or another no matter how this turned out this car was never going to run again when all was said and done. After all Cadillac's were hardly known for their all terrain capabilities and with all the bumps and bangs that were accumulating on the underside of the car it was a miracle every minute it stayed together. Still as he watched the speedometer continue to climb he was growing optimistic about the chances he had of getting a kilometer and a half away from them before the nuke went off. It looked like pretty much flat open desert in front of him but he suspected that sooner or later he'd come across a cliff or something. After all Robbie said that a cliff or a steep valley would be necessary in order to take some of the edge off of the blast. Sparing a glance at the visible digital timer on the nuke he saw that he had about a minute and a half until the big bang. When combining that with the increasing speed of the vehicle he had a feeling it would be close as far as meeting or breaking the kilometer and a half mark. He wished he could go faster but the gas pedal was already pressed against the floor and with the uneven terrain greater speed was slow in coming.

It was right about then that the full weight of the situation and what was about to happen finally came crashing down on him. He was going to die. He was going to get blown into vapor in the middle of a desert and get a rather potent ride into either heaven or hell depending on how things worked out on the scales of life. It would be goodbye life hello pearly gates! Which would mean that the Scooby gang would be done one member. Buffy, Giles, Oz and Willow would have to find a way to fight the good fight without him. For a moment images of Willow when she received the news of his death appeared in his mind and the pain he imagined would be on her face caused his resolve to waver. She was his bestest bud since pre-school and now she would lose him as they had lost Jessie. Perhaps not to vampires but he would still be lost to her in any case and that would hurt her greatly no matter who was there to comfort her. Unfortunately every time he tried to figure out a way that he could get the nuke to the 1.5 kilometer point without him at the wheel he came up blank. He couldn't exactly jam a piece of metal up against the gas pedal, tie the steering wheel in place and then watch the car drive off. If it encountered any kind of obstacle or barrier along the way before it reached the necessary distance then his little sacrifice would be for nothing. So in the end he had no choice but to continue riding the nuke out into the night to await the final few seconds before it went off.

Looking at the timer again he was just in time to see it lose its third digit and go from minutes to seconds until the big bang hit. Closing his eyes for a moment he tried to remember all the best times of his life, the moments that a person would want to remember just before checking out of the hotel called life. Meeting Jessie and Willow in preschool. Eating his first twinkie. Spending Christmas day with his friends. Meeting Buffy for the first time. Fighting to make the world a little bit safer from those who were of the darkness and the malevolent. Saving Buffy's life when Deadboy could not. Staring down Angelus without any show of fear. Being the 'key guy' not once but twice. All in all he had led a rather eventful life. Such a shame it had to come to an end no matter how spectacular the end might be.

It was then that he began to notice a change in the horizon and saw that there was a cliff up ahead that looked pretty deep if the land beyond it was any indication. Then taking into account how long it would take to go around it along with how much farther he guessed he had to go before hitting the one and a half kilometer mark and he knew what he had to do. The car had to go over the side of the cliff. Fortunately though he didn't have to along with it. After all once this tin can got airborne the driver would become useless. The abrupt landing would take care of car's ability to continue onward. After all when a car met the ground the only thing that tended to keep it going was the momentum and once that was spent there would be nothing. True he would probably die a few seconds after he jumped out of the car given that even if he wasn't next to it the nuke would still easily be close enough to fry him completely. Though it was debatable whether it would be preferable to die as a result of a head on collision with the desert floor or get vaporized in an instant as the nuke went off. In the end though there wasn't any real choice for him. If he went over the side with the car there was still a slim chance that he would survive and still be conscious when the nuke went off. However the few seconds that existed in between the crash and the detonation of the nuke would likely be spent in significant pain. Better to die in a flash of light instantly than to have to suffer through the seconds of pain between crashing and being vaporized.

Watching as the cliff got closer and closer he turned briefly to the timer on the nuke and saw that it would likely detonate the moment it made contact with the desert floor at the bottom of the cliff. A nice way for his old Uncle Rory's car to go to the great big scrap heap in the sky. Seconds ticked by as both distance and time decreased for him and just as he reached the point of no return he opened the driver's side door and flung himself out of the car. It wasn't a fluffy pillow landing but he figured getting a few bumps and bruises at this point didn't mean a whole lot. When he finally stopped rolling he looked in the direction of the cliff and was just in time to see the tail end of the car disappear from sight. It was almost time to kiss his butt goodbye.

_See you around Willow._ He thought before his world came to an end in a flash of scalding white light.

Someplace, Some Time 

DO YOU SEEK POWER?

W-wha? Where am I?

DO YOU SEEK POWER?

Power?

AS YOU HAVE ENTERED MY REALM WITH THE CRYSTALS SO TOO HAVE YOU EARNED THE SACRED CHOICE. DO YOU SEEK POWER?

Yes.

AS YOU HAVE SOUGHT SO SHALL YOU HAVE!

With that conversation did the slumbering goddess of the Earth influence the world she embodied and in doing so changed it forever.


	2. You wouldn't like me when I'm Angry

Area 51, Nevada, USA, Three Days Later, Noon 

"Report Doctor Banner." General 'Thunderbolt' Ross demanded as he approached the lab coat wearing man standing in front of a one-way observation window.

"The patient is, to put it mildly, bending or breaking every know law of physics and medicine I can think of General." Banner replied with a look that said he was only just barely accepting what the tests he had conducted were telling him, "By all rights the young man should be nothing more then atomized genetic material but if these recent examination reports are accurate he should be fully recovered some time today."

"Any theories on how he managed to pull it off?" Ross asked as he looked through the window at the topic of the discussion sleeping in his hospital bed, "Is he a mutant? A meta-human?"

"No on both accounts. I thought along the same lines when we first brought him in but his DNA checked clean for both the X and meta-gene. All follow up tests have him as being nothing more than your average American teenager." Banner replied with a slight bit of reluctance as he could easily figure what the older man's response to that would be.

"Run the tests again and tell those eggheads to look for anything out of the ordinary no matter how trivial it may look." Ross demanded just below a yell as an angry frown came over his face, "I want to know how this kid managed to survive a nuclear blast with only a few bumps and bruises to show for it."

"I wouldn't call multiple lacerations, light to moderate burns and a broken right arm 'a few bumps and bruises' General." Banner stated as he made a note of the man's order anyway, "In any case I think that if we're going to get any answers they're going to have to be from the young man himself."

"Fine. His skin grow back enough to get prints off of him?" Ross asked hoping that looking through official government records would yield some answers to his questions.

"Yes and in expectation of your request I've already forwarded them to your office here on the base." Banner replied professionally hoping internally that his bit of initiative would garner him some respect and good will from the General.

"Good. Now get going with re-doing those DNA tests and make it snappy." Ross said with a growl as he turned to leave the room, "I want to have a firm grip on what happened out there by the time the stink from this reaches Washington."

"Yes General." Banner stated in a rehearsed manner that still somehow managed to sound respectful and proper despite the fact that Ross knew it wasn't.

Upon leaving the room the general was left with a decision to make as far as what to do next. He could go straight back to his temporary office and begin a search on the boy's identity which would somehow hopefully provide an explanation for how the boy had survived or he could go talk to his daughter. She and the rest of her group had been apprehended shortly after the immediate effects of the nuke had dispersed and he had been on the first military vehicle there. None of the punks had been hurt very bad in the blast and Betty just seemed a little shook up for the most part so he guessed the boy's hair-brained idea to save them from the nuke worked. They were still put through radiation decontamination and given a thorough check up by the base physicians but aside from some rest and some antibiotics everything else was fine. The two boys with her were tossed into a holding cell to await prosecution while Betty was placed in guest quarters under heavy guard. To some this might seem a tad excessive given that she was a civilian and not some Special Ops commando but he had learned through frustrating first hand experience never to underestimate his little girl's resourcefulness. The first three times he had just placed her in a room and locked the door she had managed to escape inside of five minutes. After that he decided to take her seriously and had placed guards at all conceivable exit and entry points to the room. If any soldier questioned the need for such measures he simply said that they should take it as a test of their skills and discipline. When that didn't work he just yelled at them and treated them as though they were still back at boot camp. That shut them up in a hurry and he never heard a word of complaint from the ones he had spoken to ever again.

_It has been almost two days since they were brought in._ Ross thought as he contemplated what choice to make, _She probably has calmed down enough to speak rationally with me. Still … _

It was one of the few things that could make General 'Thunderbolt' Ross pause in his tracks and hesitate, a simple conversation with his daughter. Ever since she hit puberty they had never seen eye to eye and all too often when they did talk to one another it inevitably seemed to spiral into a yelling match. She would yell at him about his job and his career first then he would yell at her about being 'proper' and how he was doing important work for the country. Eventually one of them would stomp away in a huff of anger and neither would speak to the other for at least a week. If he went to her now, even if she had calmed down, there was still a sizeable chance that the entire thing would devolve into one of their fights and nothing would be solved. He fully intended to try and get her out of this mess with the minimum penalty possible or for her to be released without one but it would be much simpler if he could do it with her co-operation. If she co-operated with him he could spin a story that would be much more convincing to his superiors than if she remained stubborn and refused to play any part in his strategy. SO the question was would he tempt fate and try to get her to comply or would he put it off a bit longer.

_No I doubt an extra few hours would change her mood any more than two days under guard would._ Ross thought as be began to go down the corridors to his daughter's room, _Better to get it over with now then to let the matter distract me from investigating the boy._

Indeed the boy was quite a mystery but he could also be a blessing in disguise if it could be determined how he managed to survive a nuclear blast so close to ground zero. If the method could be discovered and replicated in other soldiers they could effectively have found a way to render an entire army impervious to nuclear weaponry. A platoon could walk right up to Saddam's front door and detonate a nuke without the tedious problem of needing enough time to escape the blast radius. That of course was just one of the possibilities that were manifesting in his mind and he was sure that many of the other eggheads were also running through the possible benefits in their head. Once he had dealt with his daughter and found out who the young man was he would have to take steps to make sure that none of those lab coats that were a part of the project got too ambitious. He didn't need to be an expert on the world stage to know how many organizations both legal and otherwise would be very interested in what this boy could apparently do. As he turned the corner and spotted the two guards standing in front of the room containing his daughter he pushed all such thoughts from his mind. Composing himself and doing his best to lock down his negative emotions he approached them and after a quick inquiry about his daughter's behavior since over the last twelve hours he entered the room.

She was currently sitting on the cot in the upper left hand corner of the room looking at the door as if she expected her determination and anger at being kept in the room would be enough to knock it clean off of its hinges. Needless to say when that glare was directed his way he thought perhaps that he had made a mistake in choosing now to speak with her. Shaking loose the feelings her look was generating he steeled himself for the 'discussion' that would follow and hoped it would end without raised voices and ill chosen words.

"Hello Betty." He said as politely and in as fatherly a manner as he could manage.

"Father." She said in a tone usually reserved for lawyers and people you tolerate just because hitting them would only make things worse.

"Feeling better?" asked Ross as he knew that both she and her companions were likely still feeling the aftereffects of the neo-nuke.

"Much." She replied not moving one iota from her position physically or emotionally.

_This is going to have to change if we're going to get anywhere with this._ He thought to himself before he came as close as he could to her without provoking her into moving away and said, "Look Betty I know you're not exactly fond of me and I have to admit that I'm not crazy about the direction you've chosen for yourself but we need to put that aside for now."

"Do we?" she asked in what he knew was a rhetorical manner as well as a hint that she would be taking the opposite position of anything he said.

"Yes. You've really gone over the top on this one little lady. You've been lucky that the less than legal acts you've done have been minor enough that I've been able to get them dismissed or swept under the carpet." He said as he strove to remain calm and positive towards his daughter, "With this though it will be significantly harder to keep you out of doing some hard time. Even if I use all the connections I have it will be a near thing to get you reduced from a 'willing participant' to a 'naïve duped young woman' in my superiors' eyes. I'll need your help to make it work."

"My help? Keep me out of doing hard time? Yeah right!" Betty said with a sneer making it clear she didn't trust the intentions behind his words, "We both know that the only reason why you 'sweep' things under the carpet for me is to protect your own military career. Can't let the top brass find out your 'little girl' has a criminal record!"

"That's not it at all! Can't you believe for one minute that I'm actually worried about you and am trying to help?" Ross asked as his voice momentarily went up to a yelling decibel level before he dragged it back down to a more reasonable tone.

"When you've spent more time trying to get another medal pinned to your uniform than with me, let me think, YES!" she replied with fire in her eyes that momentarily reminded the General of his deceased wife.

"Now you listen here young lady and you listen good! This is completely different from all the stunts you've pulled in the past! They have video footage of you driving right up to the prototype! That isn't the sort of thing that can be doctored out!" General Ross said as he began to lose his grip on his emotions, "It won't matter how well I arrange it! The second any 'flaws' are detected in the recordings they'll know it was me! Damn it woman! Don't you think of anyone other than yourself when you pull these stunts?"

"Of course I think about other people when I pull these 'stunts'! I think about all the people that will die when the weapon is deployed! I think about the hundreds of people that will starve to death when the land they used to farm is too contaminated by radiation to risk using! I think of all the soldiers that will die when a war inevitably breaks out between America and another nation!" Betty replied with even more emotion in her voice than there was in her father's voice.

"You're talking nonsense! Contrary to whatever tripe those eco-activists have been feeding you the neo-nuke is still months away from being anywhere near ready." Thunderbolt said thinking his daughter might have well been an unwitting dupe in this fiasco, "Even if it was ready to go the U.S military isn't about to go conquering the world with it like you seem to think it will. It's only meant as a deterrent and a possible solution to the growing mutant problem. I doubt they'll get much more powerful than the one that detonated in the Nevada desert."

"Please! The top dogs in the military will take one look at the possible military applications of this bomb and will go hunting for a reason to use it! Hell! They might just invent one so they can use the aftermath to bully other nations for land or resources!" Betty said both in disbelief at her father for being such an idiot for believing what he was saying and anger at those in power who treated nukes like toys.

Deciding it was better to end the conversation now rather than let it get any worse General Ross said "Obviously you took a nastier bump to the head than the docs thought if you believe a word of what you're saying. I'll come back tomorrow to talk and hopefully you'll be in a more rational mood."

Turning around he knocked on the door to let the guards outside know that he wanted to leave and when the door finally opened he was about to step through when he decided to drop some info in Betty's lap just to gauge her reaction.

"By the way. Just in case you wanted to know the young man who drove off with the neo-nuke before detonation is still alive." He said as he kept an observant eye on his daughter's face to take in her reaction.

"What?" Betty asked in surprise as she immediately surged into a standing position.

"Yeah. We're a bit shocked about that ourselves." Ross replied as he saw both shock and surprise on her face but also something else that he couldn't identify with the first two emotions in the way, "Just thought you might want to know."

With that final sentence he left the room and began to walk towards his office where he would hopefully be able to learn more about this mystery man who'd been recruited into his daughter's little escapade.

**_One Hour Later, Betty Ross' "Room"_**

_He's alive._ Betty thought to herself for what seemed like the hundredth time since her father had told her about Brown Eyes still being among the living.

Even now after an hour of replaying her father's words over and over again in her mind she couldn't quite believe that it was true. She knew what the guy had placed in the passenger-side seat of the car. She knew what it could do and how close the Cadillac driving man was likely to have been when the nuke went off. There was no way he could still be alive but at the same time she didn't think that her dad would lie about something like that. Sure he could lie about his job or about whether or not he was behind the latest bit of sabotage of her life but not about whether a person was dead or not. Especially since he would have nothing to gain from it aside from knocking her completely off her guard. If that had been his intent then he would have pressed his advantage and gone for the kill so to speak but instead he had simply walked out the door. That tended to make her believe that the General was telling her the truth and that opened up a whole new can of worms for her mind to deal with.

For one thing her mind tried to come up with a rational reason how Brown Eyes had managed to survive the blast. Judging from the fact that she, Rick and Robbie hadn't gotten much more than a nasty sunburn from the entire thing. That meant that Cadillac had made it into a valley or over the side of a cliff and that had saved them from the brunt of the blast. Since it was unlikely that the stud had driven off the edge with the car she assumed he jumped out just before it went over the edge. That still would have placed him too close to the blast to avoid being atomized by the blast. Following that line of logic she had to assume something had stepped in to prevent that, some kind of barrier, and keep him from being killed. The first two possibilities that came to mind was that Brown Eyes was either a mutant or a meta-human in which case he had probably used some kind of super power to protect himself. However if that was the case then why hadn't he used it to stop himself from being hijacked by her group? Had he been toying with them the entire time? No, she didn't think so, she couldn't remember seeing that sort of behavior coming from the guy. That would imply that he hadn't possessed the powers prior to the blast. It was then that she remembered an obscure article she had read somewhere that it was believed by experts that a mutant's powers were often triggered by extreme emotional distress. Given that Brown Eyes had been sitting next to a nuke for the drive up and had been within throwing distance of ground zero she would have to say that that would have been stressful enough for anyone. Still getting the mutant powers and using the mutant powers were two different things entirely and she doubted he would have been able to figure out how to use his power in the time before the blast. In any case though it mattered little whether or not he could control his power or not because he now had a bigger problem to deal with.

Now he had to deal with General 'Thunderbolt' Ross.

What was worse was that she knew that there was no way that her father, much less the military, would let someone who could survive a nuclear explosion at near ground zero go free. Much like the neo-nuke they would be unable to let something with such obvious military potential go unexploited. No they would keep him locked up until such time as they could either 'convince' him to work for them or find a way to copy his awesome ability onto others who would work for the military. Then there was the possibility that if they could neither convince him to become a soldier for the American military or copy his power they'd probably lock him up somewhere to make sure their enemies couldn't use him to their advantage either. In short Brown Eyes was up the shit creek without a paddle and it was all her fault. If she, Rick and Robbie hadn't hijacked his car he never would have been anywhere near that bomb much less been forced to expose his super power in front of the military.

_That means I've gotta try and get him out of this mess no matter what!_ She thought to herself as she began to scan the room for a means of escape.

At the moment her plan pretty much consisted of three phases with the first being get out of her room, the second being find Brown Eyes and the last being free B.E after which she would try and get him to safety. It wouldn't be easy as she was sure her father had become quite good at anticipating her tactics and making sure that none of the guards underestimated her. After all this was hardly the first time she had been locked up in a room and placed under guard and this wasn't her first time attempt to escape imprisonment. Most of the conventional moves like trying to sneak out through the ventilation system or trick the guards into coming inside so she could knock them out had been done before. That was why her father had made sure she had been placed in a room where the air vents were too small for anything but a child or a rodent to scurry through and the guards outside always operated with one attending to her needs while the other had a tranquilizer gun trained on her. She supposed she should be thankful that it was something like that rather than a tazer or stun gun. Still there was something about having two military men outside her door with one holding the means to putting her asleep for several hours that made her uncomfortable.

With her old tactics used to the point where they were easily countered she would have to get significantly more crafty and hope that she could get to Brown Eyes before the guy got shipped off to the room with the needles and the bone cutters.

_Should be fun!_ She thought as she took a pillowcase from her cot and hung it over the security camera in the corner of her room.

**_Isolation Recovery Room, Three Hours Later_**

"Okay so either I'm still alive or I've slipped into someone else's version of heaven." Xander muttered to himself as he took in the room around him.

He had woken up a few minutes ago and when he got over the fact that his body seemed to be both intact and functioning despite being sitting a few feet from ground zero last he remembered. Between seeing the white hot heat of the blast heading his way and waking up here the only thing he could remember even vaguely was a weird dream he had. He couldn't recall very much aside from a woman's voice and a blinding green light but he dismissed it as being something along the lines of a nuke induced dream.

Finishing his survey of the room he figured he was in some kind of military base being patched up so they could give him a proper interrogation before locking him up for the rest of his natural life. He knew that was what was going to happen which made him curse whatever deity, god or goddess that was responsible for saving him from being reduced to a pile of radioactive ashes. It had been the fact that had been a strong reason for him to be the nuke's driver to the cliff. He had no wish to spend year upon year in jail, most likely solitary confinement, wasting away so he figured being vaporized in an instant was preferable. Now he didn't have the favorable option B to enjoy and was forced to endure sixty plus years of a bare stone room being served food better suited to barnyard animals. He supposed he could try and commit suicide rather than endure that but from his numerous research sessions with G-Man he remembered that suicide was considered a major sin that could keep you out of heaven for good. True there were numerous other religions that said it was okay to commit suicide but he wasn't about to risk making the wrong choice.

_So where does that leave me?_ Xander thought to himself as he tried to find something to distract himself from his current predicament, _Oh yeah! Square fucking one! _

He knew he wasn't exactly acting like his usual joking self but given his current situation he doubted anyone could really blame him for being as pissy as he was right then. Still, despite the urge to let his anger run free, he reigned in his emotions and tried to think objectively as to how he could turn the situation around. He doubted he could make a single move in here without it being picked up given the obvious presence of surveillance cameras and the less obvious 'much too big' mirror to his right. He almost let out a chuckle as he wondered who the idiot had to have been who thought making a 'mirror' that big would be a good idea. Any human worth anything would recognize that the 'mirror' was almost exactly the expected height and width as an observation window. That meant that in addition to the cameras panning back and forth above his head he also probably had someone on the other side of the 'mirror' jotting down notes even now. Well actually since he had just woken up the egghead was probably calling up whomever was in charge of the base to inform him/her/they that their 'guest' was awake. He figured he had maybe five minutes before someone entered the room and began grilling him under a bright light. Closing his eyes he tried to take stock of his options and what assets he still had. His body felt more or less fine with only bit of fuzziness here and there that was likely caused by the sedatives or painkillers they were pumping him with. Flexing his arm and moving a few other limbs confirmed that aside from the drug induced sluggishness everything was in working order. At the same time he confirmed that they hadn't put any restraints on him so he more or less had full range of movement aside from where the IV drip was as well as the suction pads.

Pushing himself into a more upright position he looked about the room and unfortunately saw that there was only one way in or out. Unless of course he tried smashing through the 'mirror' but that was unlikely given that they made the things to be pretty durable. Thus any escape attempt he tried would have to wait until he left the room That unfortunately would likely be under guard though and he would still have to figure out how to get rid of some guards before making a run for it. Still if he played up the naïve and typical stupid American teenager bit maybe he could lull them into a false sense of security. That would give him some extra surprise time that he could use to knock them out or at the very least grab one of them to use as a human shield. Still depending on where exactly he was there could be an entire army waiting for him when he stepped outside.

There was simply too much he did not know about where he was aside from the fact that it was an army base of some kind. He would have to try and suffer through a few interrogation sessions then and see if he could pump the person doing it questions about where he was. He doubted he'd be able to get anything specific but he figured if he asked about innocent things like what the date was he'd be able to guess a fair bit of the rest. After all even if they loaded him onto a plane or train there would be limits on how far they could take him within a certain amount of time. With any luck he would still be in Nevada and that meant he might be able to make it to someplace like Las Vegas and get lost in the crowd. Once the heat died down a bit he could slip out and get back to Sunnydale in under a week where the only things he had to worry about was becoming something's dinner.

His strategy sessions was cut short when the door opened to admit someone that he identified as a general judging from the uniform and various metal adornments that were only worn by people of that rank. He looked to be in his late forties or early fifties judging from the gray beginning to creep into his hair and had a frown beneath his bushy mustache that said he was not in a good mood. A young man in a lab coat entered behind the General but not too young so it was likely that he was the head of the project the nuke was a part of. Both of them had a look on their respective faces that said something was up and one Xander LaVelle Harris was at the very center of it. That did not bode well for any escape attempts since they would likely be taking extra precautions to make sure nothing happened to him and DEFINITELY to make sure he didn't get away. Still as the corny old saying goes 'where there is life, there is hope' so he wasn't going to let himself be dragged down into the emotional dumps just yet. No he'd wait until they slammed the door on his cell shut and put a blow torch to the lock to make it impossible for the door to be opened ever again.

"Glad to see you're awake Mr. Harris." The egghead said before asking, "How are you feeling?"

"Aside from a case of drug induced fuzziness I'd have to say pretty good." He replied trying to keep his answers short and to the point.

He didn't even bother asking how they knew his name since he figured they either got it from his prints or from some sort of facial recognition computer program.

"Well you came in here with some pretty nasty burns Mr. Harris." The egghead said as he checked the various machines before jotting something down on a notepad, "Fortunately they aren't a problem anymore so we should be able to take you off the pain medication in the next day or so."

_Burns?_ He thought to himself as he looked down at his arms to find nothing except maybe a slight tan on his skin.

"If you feel up to it we'd like to ask you a few questions." The General said in a way that sounded like a polite request but you knew was in fact an order.

"Sure but can we take it elsewhere? I've never been a big fan of hospitals and this is close enough to give me a major case of the wiggins." Xander said as he enacted the first part of his rough draft plan, "Oh and maybe some clothes? I'd like to get out of this draft dress as soon as possible."

"Certainly. I think I have some spare clothes in my office that should be only a little big on you." Egghead replied before looking to the General and asked "With your permission General?"

A nod was the only response the Egghead got from the General and with the lab guy's departure the number of people in the room dropped to two. The Zeppo hoped that the silence that existed between him and the General would last until he got Egghead's spare clothes but judging from the single step the older man took the Q&A session was about to begin.

"What is your connection to the woman who was part of the group you drove into the testing range?" The General asked firmly as he stared down Xander for an answer.

This was definitely not the question the native of Sunnydale had been expecting from the stern man. He had expected something more along the lines of 'why were you helping those yahoos mess with my new nuke' or something along those lines. Still he wasn't about to make this guy angry by being slow with an answer so he went with the first response that came to mind.

"I don't have a connection with her sir. I mean when I saw her bending over trying to fix the engine of her Explorer I was interested in making a connection but that kinda got derailed when she and her friends pointed their guns at me when I stopped to see if I could help." He replied in a big flood of words hoping to satisfy the man's mind.

However as the General's stern disposition deepened young Harris had the distinct impression he had said something that he shouldn't have.

"What exactly were you doing on the highway at that time?" The General asked in a way that hinted that the Zeppo should choose his next words carefully.

"Well I was going on a road trip for the summer to see some of America sir." Xander said with some anxiety in his voice, "I thought I'd check out Vegas first."

This seemed to calm the high ranking military officer down a bit which definitely calmed Xander down as he figured the older guy wasn't in the mood any longer to abuse his authority and order more 'intrusive' means of interrogation be used. Maybe he was one of those military types who went on a road trip themselves when they were his age.

"Do you routinely stop to help unknown people fix their vehicles? Not exactly a smart move kid." The General asked before putting in his two cents on the Scooby member's actions.

"Look I admit it might not have been the brightest move I could have made but helping people is just what I do okay." Xander replied while hoping things stayed in this area as far as the questioning went.

The discussion went on for a time and apparently someone or something had heard the Zeppo's wish because aside from occasionally drifting back to questions about Betty the General's questions were pretty straightforward. A short while later the Egghead returned with an arm full of clothing and while Xander wasn't all that crazy about the colors he figured it was better than the drafty backless dress he was wearing. After asking them to leave and finding a spot in the room that both shielded him from the cameras as well as the 'mirror' he quickly changed into the clothes. The Egghead had been right when he had said that they'd be a bit big on him but thankfully a little rolling of the sleeves and pant legs was all it took to make him look a little more presentable. His only problem with the outfit though was the purple pants. Oh they were dark enough in color so most would mistake it for some variation on dark blue but after buying no few loud Hawaii shirts back in Sunnydale his eyes could easily tell the difference. No matter what color they were though he knew he just had to grin and bear it since he doubted they'd be so 'reasonable' with his requests a second time. Once he was satisfied that everything was perfect he knocked on the door and thankfully they complied with his second request of a change in location because he was soon taken to a conference room. It wasn't exactly that big of a change in terms of décor but then again he figured with all the money the armed forces put into training and weapons they probably were pretty cheap with things what color to paint the walls or what to put on the ceiling. Still at least it was a change and change was good. It was just the direction the change chose that made it good or bad.

Sitting down in one of the chairs along the conference table's length he waited for the General and the Egghead to do the same. Naturally they took seats directly across from his own with the Egghead sporting the traditional 'good cop' face and the General looking like he'd like nothing better than to toss the Zeppo into solitary confinement. After a few brief moments of silence it was the Egghead that started off Act 2 of the interrogation process.

"Let's start off with you telling us how exactly you got into the middle of the test site Mr. Harris and then we can worry about the nitpicking Q&A later. Okay?" Egghead asked with a polite and friendly voice.

"Sure." Xander said with a bit of nervous anxiety in his voice.

Deciding to start with his departure from Sunnydale for his cross-country road trip he explained how he'd just been on his way to Vegas when he spotted Betty trying to fix her Explorer. This time of course when he mentioned Betty he made sure to speak in as neutral a way as possible so as not to put the General back in the bad mood he had been in earlier when the Zeppo had put his foot in his mouth. He went on to explain how he had been hijacked and then taken all three of the eco-activists where they directed him to go. Finally he came to the moment when Rick had messed up with the nuke and the drive-the-car-and-the-nuke-off-a-cliff thing he did before concluding with the last thing he saw before the blast hit him. He made sure to be as specific and detailed as he could without annoying them but he was hoping that if he went into sufficient detail then he could shorten the 'nitpicking Q&A session' Egghead had mentioned by half. When he finished silence returned to the room with both Egghead and the General re-enacting the Jedi High Council scene from 'The Phantom Menace' by looking at each other as though they were speaking to one another telepathically. Eventually though it looked like the General was glaring at the Egghead as if to say 'we are going to do this my way' and wasn't going to take a no for an answer.

"That was a nice overview Mr. Harris but I think you're leaving a few details out and I'm afraid my superiors will want a thorough report." The General said in a way that was probably considered 'nice' by his subordinates, "Let's start from the beginning again and whenever I think your withholding something I'll let you know and you will tell me what that detail is. Understood?"

Flashing back to his soldier possession during Halloween Xander knew then and there that he was going to be in this room with these two guys for the long haul. Aside from bathroom breaks and perhaps some food from the base cafeteria he wouldn't be going anywhere until both the Egghead and the General were satisfied they knew everything. Sighing in defeat he did as he was asked by the General and started his story from the beginning.

_I just hope that it doesn't take too long for these two to figure out I'm no threat or else my mood is going to go south in a BIG way._ Xander thought to himself as his mouth replayed his earlier statement with enhanced surround sound detail.

**_3 Hours Later, Same Conference Room_**

_Okay this is getting old!_ Xander growled to himself as he listened to the General who he learned had the last name Ross pick apart his latest rendition of events with excruciating thoroughness.

It had pretty much been like this the entire three hours that the three of them had been in the room and Xander's patience was beginning to feel the strain. During the time here the General had managed to pry every little thought or word he had spoken since meeting Betty from his mind and put it under a microscope. Obviously General Ross was looking for something but the one time that the Zeppo had asked him about it he had been given the 'I will be the one asking the questions around here' response. Add to that the fact that the Egghead whose name, whether it was the first or last, he didn't know doing a pretty pathetic job playing the 'good cop'. Any time he tried to smooth things out or calm Ross down he was given a glare that had probably caused many a recruit to washout of the service for sure. With that pattern established it was pretty much 'bad cop' the all the way and all the time. Even though he knew vaguely that it was standard military procedure to have a suspect repeat their statement multiple times to see if they slip up and trip over their own lies. However when it came to him though, a person who was being perfectly honest and blunt with his retelling of events, it was getting increasingly annoying with perhaps the first signs of anger beginning to rear its flaming head.

"Well I think we've gotten all we need for now. I'll have a..." the Egghead began before he was cut off by a rough and obviously false cough which indicated he still had something he needed explained to him.

"While I will admit that you have been admirably forthright with us Mr. Harris I think it would be prudent to go over the facts just one more time to be sure we have them straight." General Ross said as he made a show of flipping through the pages of the notepad in his hand, "So if Dr. Banner will sit back down we can get started."

"Okay! That is it! I've been here for three hours straight telling you the same frickin' story over and over again!" Xander growled as it was the most difficult thing he had ever done keeping his flaming red fury from beating down the walls he had put it behind, "I know you're trying to make me slip up because you think I'm lying or keeping something from you BUT I'M NOT! So either charge me with something or let me go because I sure as hell am not spending one more minute in this room with you two!"

"Why all the sudden anger Mr. Harris? If you have nothing to hide then another hour or so of polite questioning shouldn't be too much to ask of you should it?" Ross asked in a way that made it clear he believed he was in control and was about to make one Xander Harris understand that fact, "However if you're not willing to be polite about it I suppose we'll have to get what we need from Betty, Rick and Robbie. They'll be tough nuts to crack being eco-terrorists and all but fortunately we have a few unique methods of persuasion at our disposal. I'm sure they won't last too long before giving up the information we're looking for."

It was then that definite cracks began to form in the wall Xander had erected to keep his anger, his fury, at bay. He didn't need his soldier memories to understand what Ross meant by 'unique methods of persuasion' and the adding of Betty and the others not 'lasting too long' all but clinched what was going on. 'Unique methods of persuasion' obviously translated into 'torture' and 'won't last too long before giving up' meant 'they will break sooner rather than later mentally'. This man was implying that he was going to torture three wannabe eco-activists for who knew how long until they spilled info about him that the Zeppo knew they didn't have. That could well mean that they'd be tortured for days before the idiots in charge finally figured out that there was no information to be had. What they would do then was anyone's guess but given that they probably wouldn't trust three eco-activists to keep quiet about what had happened it probably would lead to indefinite jail time for Betty, Rick and Robbie. One by one his mind came up with images of what they might look like after the torture sessions and with each one that flew by his mind's eye another crack formed in the barrier blocking his rage from manifesting. He knew that if something didn't happen and soon he would probably wind up diving over the conference table and strangling the General right there and then.

"You can't do that! No matter what they did they're still American citizens!" Xander declared trying to bring the law and the constitution to bear, "They have rights!"

"They have whatever rights I see fit to give them! Now sit down!" Ross said as a bit of anger began to seep into his own voice.

Unfortunately it paled in comparison to what exploded from within Alexander "Xander" LaVelle Harris as the General's last comment destroyed whatever chance there had been to resolve the matter peacefully. Like most Americans Xander believed in the men and women defending this country and enforcing the laws necessary to protect the people. Despite the incompetence of the Sunnydale P.D or the numerous examples in movies, TV and comics of government corruption and shady military men he still believed that on the whole both the law enforcers and the military people were honorable. With General Ross' words though he realized he was likely in the presence of a military man who believed the ends justified the means and that violating the basic human rights of a few was trivial if it produced results. Here was an example of the sort of high ranking person 'Cancer Man' from the X-Files was meant to emulate and if that was the case then what they would really do to Betty and the others was likely even worse then he had imagined. This acted like tossing a tanker full of gasoline onto an already raging inferno obliterating whatever limiters and restraints still remained in place to keep his emotions under control. As his rage soared conscious thought began to fade away and soon after that any sensory input from his five senses.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was a world tinted in bright green and looks of fear on the faces of the General and the Egghead.

**_Dr. Bruce Banner's Point of View, Thirty Seconds Ago_**

_What in the name of GOD does Ross think he's doing?_ Bruce thought to himself as he saw the man in charge of his project imply that he was going to torture American citizens.

The plan when they had first heard that Alexander was awake was that they would do something similar to the 'good-cop-bad-cop' thing and hopefully acquire a full and honest accounting of what had happened out in the Nevada desert. He had gone along with it because he didn't think it would be too bad and that the boy would likely be free to go once the latest series of tests came back from the labs. After all from his standpoint it was a textbook case of the lad being in the wrong place at the wrong time causing him to get in way over his head and just barely managing to survive. In all honesty he had figured that all Ross wanted was to make sure what role this young man played in the events at the test site and maybe how he survived the nuclear blast. Banner had believed that all it would take was an hour long Q&A session followed by at most a week of medical and scientific tests before the boy would be allowed to go home. After the first two hours of basically the same accounting of events being repeated over and over again he had begun to get sinking feeling in his stomach that Ross had 'modified' the plan slightly. Now it looked like the General genuinely believed that there was something shady about Mr. Harris and was determined to find out what it was no matter the cost. After reviewing the facts presented by the young man the doctor could only determine that it might have been the suspicious timing of Alexander's arrival and his unusual bravery that might have made the General suspicious.

_Still that doesn't justify scaring the boy half to death or even implying using unethical methods on others his own age! _Banner thought as he began to try and figure out a way to stop the interrogation right then and there.

"You can't do that! No matter what they did they're still American citizens!" Alexander declared apparently trying appeal to the General's respect for the law and the constitution, "They have rights!"

"They have whatever rights I see fit to give them! Now sit down!" Ross said as a bit of anger began to seep into his own voice.

It was right then that Banner had been ready to toss aside any plans he had been trying to construct and go straight for the ranting about right and wrong to the General but unfortunately an unprecedented event stopped him in his tracks. Mr. Alexander LaVelle Harris was on his feet and looked to be ten seconds away from tearing Ross apart with his bare hands. What fastened his attention on the boy however though were the changes that were happening to him with ever increasing speed and drama. Eyes that were once brown were now glowing neon green and skin that was once lightly tanned was getting more and more green by the second. The most dramatic part of the change however was right before his eyes Harris grew in just about every way imaginable. He went from barely meeting six feet tall to quickly approaching eight feet in height. His body bulked up as his muscles expanded to the point where one of his arms was almost twice as thick as a telephone pole. By the time the transformation came to an end he and the General were no longer standing before an average American teenager but a titanic behemoth that had made a sizeable dent in the ceiling because of its height. When Banner's eyes focused on the head though that inevitably caused him to look at Alexander's face and the emotion present there was enough to make him go pale with fear.

The emotion on the green behemoth's face was that of unregulated RAGE! 

The emotion was soon backed up by action when the definitely not jolly green giant reached down and with as much effort as a normal person would use pushing an airborne balloon flipped the table towards both he and the General knocking them to the ground. With action and appearance taken care of the titan then decided to add sound to the list of evidence supporting his current emotional state as he let out a thunderous roar of rage that Banner was pretty sure everyone in this section of the base could hear easily. Right on cue the two guards that had been stationed outside the room came charging in with side arms drawn and eyes scanning the room for the source of the sound. A part of Bruce's mind wondered for a moment what had taken them so long and why they hadn't come in when the table was flipped over. Then that same part concluded that they probably thought it was just another ploy on the General's to make the 'punk kid' co-operate. When their eyes settled on Alexander though their reactions were almost comical as one guard fainted right on the spot while the other took one look at his weapon, one look at the target and bolted from the room as fast as he could. Needless to say it was pretty obvious that the armed forces were going to be short one guard one way or the other before the end of the week.

Growling with anger and a hint of annoyance Alexander took one last look at both the General and Banner before he bent his knees and jumped straight through the ceiling of the room leaving a hole the size of a small car to mark his passing. The early evening sun could be seen through the hole and a few seconds later the familiar alert siren screamed across the base for all to hear which meant someone had seen Alexander and pushed the nearest panic button. This had the side effect of knocking Ross out of his dumbfounded state causing him to spring to his feet and rush over to the still unconscious guard. Grabbing the man's radio the General fiddled with the settings for a moment before finally putting the device to use.

"Attention all personnel! This facility is now on high alert! All troops are to be mobilized immediately and issued full offensive gear!" Ross yelled into the radio with all the command authority he could muster, "Your orders are to take any steps necessary to prevent the large green skinned intruder from leaving this base! Lethal force is authorized!"

"Lethal force! Isn't that a little overkill General considering the weapons located on this base?" Asked Banner with more than a little concern for Alexander's life.

"Wake up Banner! This kid ain't human! He just tore through the ceiling like wet tissue paper and it was likely in this form that he survived the nuclear explosion!" Ross said harshly as though he was speaking to a slightly dim child, "We can't let him get away! No matter the cost!"

With that the General strode quickly out of the demolished conference room leaving the good doctor with a decision to make and a path to choose.

**_Area 51, Outside All Buildings, Ten Minutes Later_**

To say that the entire area was in a state of barely coherent chaos would have been something of an overstatement as the green behemoth that had seemingly come out of nowhere demolished everything that caught its notice. Surrounded on all sides by men and women armed with anything from service pistols to bazookas it was bombarded with heavy firepower but aside from the bazookas making it angrier nothing else had any affect on it. For the poor fools wielding the bazookas though they quickly became the focus of its rage as it impossibly snagged one of their projectiles mid-air and threw it back at them like it was a baseball. This scattered the troops near the area where the 'return-to-sender' projectile exploded whether it be because they were knocked into the air by the blast or simply because they didn't want to be anywhere near whatever pissed the monster off. Of course this didn't stop the soldiers from using bazookas but rather it caused them to wait until the green giant's back was turned to them before opening fire. This had the horrible side-effect of turning the being's anger into fury and with massive power it slammed both fists down to the ground shaking the earth beneath the troops as if they were experiencing a localized earthquake and creating circular impact cracks as far as twenty feet out. Not a single trooper had managed to stay on their feet and the display of power they had just borne witness to was more than enough to shake their confidence in their ability to even slow the monster down much less stop it.

It was then that the tanks finally rolled into sight and aimed their long barrels at their target. The emerald titan didn't take long to notice them but thankfully for the people inside of the tank they had heard how dangerous the creature was and decided not to give it time to act. The left tank fired first but missed the target by mere inches as shot past the green one's right hip but the tank on the right scored a direct knocking the brute off its feet and to the ground. Its impact on the ground tore a trench into the concrete six feet in length before it finally came to a stop and for a moment all who had seen the attack make contact thought that perhaps the chaos was finally over. Unfortunately that thought was completely smashed to pieces a moment later as the lumbering giant rose angrily to his feet and made it known that hitting him like that was a bad move. With a leap that looked more like a hop considering how much the behemoth bent his legs it cleared the distance between his previous location and the attacking tanks easily. With no hesitation it dug one hand into the front of each tank and with a mighty roar of rage flipped them into air before they were brought down to earth fifty yards away. With a sight like this most of the army personnel were considering desertion but before they could summon the courage to do it fate intervened.

The beast looked around for another challenger and when it found nothing it apparently decided to look elsewhere. Like a lead ball being shot out of a cannon the giant shot into the air by the power of its gigantic legs and soon became little more than a speck on the horizon as it came in for a landing momentarily before leaping into the sky once more. Once it was gone from the range of their eyes almost all of them visibly showed signs of relief as they were no longer in danger of being obliterated by that titan of power. However for a few of them it took less than a minute to figure out that as the closest military outpost to no less than three major cities including Las Vegas it would be they that would be called in to deal with the behemoth should he go on a rampage. This of course brought up the topic of desertion or at least resigning their commission as none of them had any wish to face that force of destruction ever again.

After all they may have been soldiers charged with protecting their country against anything that might threaten it but even they knew when to turn tail and run.

**_Las Vegas, Nevada, One Hour Later _**

It is called 'Snapshot City'.

It does not take long for anyone who comes to this place to see how it earned its name because almost everywhere you looked there was something or someone spectacular enough to take a picture of. Whether it be the numerous billboards or the famous entertainers like Sigfreid and Roy there was something to suite anyone's taste picture-wise as well as entertain visitors for hours. The men and women who ran the various establishments work tirelessly to make sure that the customers and tourists have the time of their lives. Almost anything can be seen or purchased in this city for a price but as a vaguely human shaped object plummeted towards the main strip of casinos everyone was about to discover that there was one thing that Vegas didn't have nor would ever want to see again.

The green behemoth touched down in the middle of the street with all the grace of a plane crash with spider-web cracks shooting off in all directions from where his feet hit it. It was only by sheer luck that there had been no occupied cars beneath him when he landed and the force of his impact on the street was enough to lift up and push back any vehicles approaching him from either direction. Car alarms and security alarms soon rang in every direction as the titan's landing was enough to either trip their sensitive sensors or shatter glass in his immediate vicinity. Needless to say some of the alarms were both loud and annoying which served only to further enrage the behemoth causing him to walk over to the nearest car from which an active alarm could be heard and delivered a devastating double axe-handle to the front of the car. This tore a bathtub shaped hole in the front of the car and crushed everything beneath the blow reducing it to the thickness of a pizza box. However when this failed to silence the alarms still functioning in the area frustration mixed with the rising anger of the beast. Stomping down the street he began to flatten, toss or tear in two vehicles at random causing some of the owners of the vehicles that were still intact to frantically try to use the remotes on their key chains to turn their own car alarms off in the hope that their Jaguar or Volvo might be spared. Fate however it seemed was against them as no sooner did they succeed in turning off their car alarms then another tremor caused by the force of destruction walking down the street set them off again.

For almost eight city blocks the destruction lasted until something completely ridiculous caught the behemoth's eye and caused him to abandon his destruction of cars, trucks and other automobiles entirely. Running forward with speed more commonly seen in high performance motorcycles the titan crossed the distance between himself and his intended target in three breaths. Grabbing the rear of the eighteen-wheeler the monster turned it on its side and stopping it in its tracks. As soon as the monster could confirm that the truck wasn't going anywhere it leapt onto the now sky facing side of the truck and tore it open like it was made of Christmas wrapping paper. To some this might seem odd but if they knew about the behemoth's other half it would make perfect and almost humorous sense as to why he dropped everything to go after it. Adorning the side of the eighteen-wheeler was the familiar emblem of the Hostess and right next to it was the one thing that could always be used as a bribe where Xander was concerned.

Twinkies. 

The giant took entire handfuls of the junk food out of the truck and only paused once to remove a piece of the box that the food had been packed in. Like a six year old finding a stash of their favorite treat the behemoth ignored just about everything else around it choosing to focus on what it considered to be important. That explained why he took no notice of the driver of the truck pumping and firing round after round of shotgun ammunition at the green giant's back. After all if military level assault rifles couldn't phase it and a shell from a tank only made it madder than a shot from an across the counter civilian rifle would likely have felt similar to a spitball hitting its back. This didn't stop the irate driver of the truck from reloading his shotgun and resuming his pointless assault though. What did eventually get the titan's attention was an illegal grenade that the driver had kept hidden in the cab of the truck for emergencies. The man pulled the pin and tossed the grenade. It exploded right in the giant's face causing it to choke for a moment on the mouthful of Twinkies it was currently chewing. Now this is not meant to imply that the grenade caused the behemoth any pain but rather it surprised the brute mid-swallow and that caused the choking. When the choking was over however the giant turned to where it thought the source of the offending object was and saw only a little man than seemed happy that it had annoyed the green giant. Deciding such a puny thing wasn't worth the effort of flicking away the behemoth resumed its meal and that was the act that made the truck driver do something truly stupid. Fed up with seeing his shipment wolfed down by what he had determined was some mutie the man climbed up onto the side of the truck with his Glock and after careful aim fired a shot right into the brute's ear.

THIS got the giant's attention since the ear was significantly more sensitive than the rest of its body and while no perceivable damage was done it still stung a bit. Deciding that it had had enough of the little man's antics the behemoth got to its feet and plucked one of the truck's tires right off its axle and threw it Frisbee style at the annoying little man. However before the object could hit its intended target something green flew through the air from the left and knocked it off course and to the ground. Looking at the tire to see what had interfered with his attempt to get rid of the annoying pest of a man he saw that it was of all things a green arrow. That was as far as it got with the analysis its less than advanced intellect was capable of before something slammed into it, HARD, knocking it off the side of the truck and into the concrete of the sidewalk below. For a moment it was stunned from the attack but soon regained its senses and looked up to finally find the source for not only the arrow but also for the attack that knocked him to the ground.

Standing on or in some cases floating above the trailer of the eighteen-wheeler it had been sitting on were four people of varying ages wearing outfits better suited to a comic book convention or something like that. Starting on the far left was a man that seemed to be made completely of metal since aside from some red boots and gloves everything else was a silvery metal-grayish color. The person to the right of Silver-guy was a young woman who looked like she still belonged in High School or had just graduated from it. Wearing red boots, white gloves, a really short blue skirt, a red cape that didn't even reach her waist and a white shirt with a stylized S on the front was a blonde young thing that it pegged as the one that had hit him judging by the fact she was shaking her hands to get rid of the pain. Moving onto the right once more was the obvious leader of the group, given the command authority he seemed to exude, a man dressed in a black bodysuit with a bit of green on the shoulders, forearms and feet for color. Last but certainly not least was a man that looked like he had come straight from a Robin Hood movie dressed all in green with a bow in one hand and an arrow ready for use in the other. All of them looked like they believed they could beat him. This was immediately supported when the leader of the group opened his mouth to deliver an ultimatum.

"You've got two choices ugly: either you stand down or we'll put you down." Ring Man declared causing his comrades to point their weapons at the giant.

Normally, in previous occasions when this team showed up, all but the most stubborn/foolish resisted with the majority surrendering on the spot. In this case though the green giant did something that temporarily threw the quartet off balance and made them begin to question their enemy's sanity.

The behemoth laughed the laugh of the strong.

Then the giant charged his enemies head on and said the words that would define its existence for years to come.

"Stupid Ring-Man think he can beat the Hulk! HULK IS STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!" the Hulk roared and in the blink of an eye the battle was joined.


	3. From bad to just plain wierd

_Five Minutes Later, Las Vegas, Nevada, Supergirl's Perspective_

_That's gonna leave a mark!_ Kara thought to herself as she rubbed her hurting cheek where the green giant had punched her.

Pulling herself out of the dent that her impact had made in the side of one of the numerous Las Vegas hotels she looked down to the street below to see if the others were making any progress. It had only been a few minutes since they had arrived on the scene but it felt like they had been battling this behemoth for hours. The day had started out well enough, sure, with today being her turn at monitor duty planet side at the new Justice League Embassy. With all the reorganization that had happened after the whole Luthor/Cadmus/Brainiac thing it had been agreed upon that the various League members would work in shifts at a variety of different posts. The ideas was that this way each member only needed to come in once or twice a week for one job or another leaving the rest of the week free for their own lives. Not that this made it any more exciting when her turn came around for monitor duty. All she did was just sit in front of an array of vid-screens that periodically flicked from news station to news station based on certain key words or phrases. She knew that it was important to keep up on all the latest happenings around the world just in case something happened that the local government or military couldn't handle but that didn't make it any less boring or hard to endure. It got the point where she almost prayed that something big would happen just so she could ditch her 'duty' for something more exciting.

_I should really be more careful what I wish for!_ Supergirl thought as she flew down to where Captain Atom and John Stewart were trying to double team the muscle bound mammoth.

The alert had come up not two minutes after her prayer for excitement and then her screens automatically shifted to stations covering the angry green giant's rampage only. The first thing she, and no doubt the others, had thought when they had first laid eyes on brute displayed on the screens was 'Solomon Grundy' and with good reason. Both of them were inhumanly strong, dumb as a ton of bricks and dressed in tattered and torn clothes. While such a being would have normally rated a team consisting of her cousin Superman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, the Flash and J'onn those heroes were currently dealing with a crisis involving Darkseid. That meant the B team was up consisting of GL, Captain Iron Pants, Robin Hood and herself since they had both the skills for the job and were the closest to Vegas. One teleport via the Watchtower and they had arrived just in time to prevent an irate truck driver from getting a truck wheel Frisbee in the gut. Naturally that was when Stewart had delivered the usual 'give up or get pounded' ultimatum which brought things to where they were right now.

_Given a choice between the two I think I'd prefer fighting Grundy to the Hulk._ She thought as she flew at super speed in order to save Green Arrow from being flattened by a thrown car.

"Thanks doll." GA said as she set him down a short distance away from the fight.

"No problem." She replied as she looked to see the Hulk somehow shatter a containment sphere GL had erected around him, "Any ideas on how to beat this guy?"

"Aside from pounding on him 'til he goes down? 'fraid not." Green Arrow replied as he took out one of his explosive arrows and fired it at the Hulk, "I figure you stand the best chance of all of us to do that so you'd better get in there."

"I'll do my best but I'd keep your communicator handy just in case!" she said as she charged towards the green mountain of muscle through the air with both fists out in front and ready to ram her target.

Slamming into the Hulk with enough force to put a hole in a tank she grimaced in pain as her blow only managed to force the green giant back a few steps. For her though it caused enough pain that she knew there would be some nasty bruises there later. It made her wonder though whether punching him hurt because he was invulnerable like her or if his power came from some kind of magic. In either case she didn't want to try pounding on him with her fists any more than she had to otherwise she'd wind up with some very bruised and maybe bleeding knuckles before long. Lifting into the air and getting to what she hoped was a safe distance she concentrated and unleashed a blast of her heat vision. Normally she'd never use it on a living being but given how impervious he'd been to her fists and Green Arrow's attacks she figured she could at least give it a shot. Targeting his chest she raised the intensity of her heat vision to where it could cut through your average car quite quickly. This had about the same effect shining a laser pointer would have so she turned the intensity up a notch to where it could cut through a bank vault door. This seemed to get his attention but from what she could tell didn't do any damage or cause any significant amount of pain. Deciding it was time to take a risk she upped heat intensity to where it could slag titanium and that was when she hit the jackpot. Smoke now rose from where her attack hit and she could tell that the Hulk was definitely feeling something worse than a bee sting considering the look he was giving her.

"Cape girl trying to burn Hulk! Stupid blonde girl get smashed if she not stop!" Hulk said in a deep and angry voice as he glared at her as though he had heat vision himself.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I maintain a solid B+ average thank you very much!" Kara exclaimed in anger at the 'stupid blonde' insult before realizing that this was neither the time nor the place for such teenage behaviour, "Besides you look like you could use a tan."

This comment apparently only angered the behemoth further but she was confident that she was far enough away that even if he threw something at her she would have plenty of space to dodge it while continuing her attack. However that theory was proven false however when he clapped his hands together with such force that it sent a shockwave hurtling through the air that knocked her for a loop. The attack only dazed her for a moment but it was enough to stop her heat vision attack and she surmised that was the entire point of the 'clap attack'. Regaining control and stopping her backwards tumble through the air she looked back in the direction of the Hulk determined to deliver some payback for using such a lame attack against her. After all Stargirl would never let her live it down if she wound up getting beaten by some muscle headed moron who did nothing more than clap real hard. Flying right back at the Hulk she decided to take a page out of the Flash's book. Landing just a few steps away from her target she went from flying real fast to running real fast as she began to literally run circles around the brute. However in addition to the running she also began raining down punches on the guy and while they weren't of the full strength variety she was aiming them at every soft/sensitive spot she could reach. After all since hitting him with everything she had didn't work (and hurt really, really bad) then maybe some weaker hits aimed at the right spots would do the trick.

Unfortunately the Hulk apparently decided to pull a rabbit out of his hat because with speed she never would have expected from someone so bulky he actually managed to grab her by the head as she ran in front of him.

Before she could do more than understand that he had her he slammed her, hard, into the street again and again. After the third time she lost the coherency of thought to think straight and after the fourth time all she could understand was power that was being used against her. She didn't even comprehend the sudden stopping of the assault until a few minutes later and even then she knew it would be awhile before she could sit up straight much less stand. Whoever the Hulk was he was a force of nature and she had doubts that even her cousin could handle him. With that in mind she resigned herself to stay still there until her body recovered and hoped that the others would be able to stop the powerhouse capable of beating this blonde Argosian girl senseless.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Las Vegas, Nevada, Thirty Minutes After the Battle Began_

It was a sight that none would soon forget, whether they lived in Vegas themselves or were just here doing the tourist thing. Not many of them had had the courage/insanity to stick around after the green giant had begun his rampage but those that had were in awe of what they had seen. It had been pure panic that had gripped them when the beast had arrived and started to destroy everything but when members of the famed Justice League arrived the fear vanished since they were sure everything would be okay.

However the fear began to return with all the subtlety of an approaching stampede of bulls as time and time again the efforts of the four Justice League members were either overpowered or otherwise thwarted by their titan sized enemy. Whether it was Green Lantern's various ring constructs or Captain Atom's energy blasts nothing kept the green goliath down. Even Supergirl who displayed as much power and speed as Superman was unable to do more than anger the mountain of muscle. Nevertheless the Leaguers fought on in the hopes that somehow they'd be able to defeat the green powerhouse. In the end though the being that the newspapers would come to dub 'The Hulk' brought them all down. In half an hour one monster, whether he be a mutant or a meta-human, took out four members of the Justice League without receiving so much as a scratch in return. For a brief moment after the fight was over everyone was afraid that the Hulk would turn his power and anger on them next. However God must have thought that they had had enough excitement for one day because with only a brief look around for more enemies the jade giant took to the sky with a colossal leap to the north. He quickly faded from sight and after a minute they could no longer hear the thunderous booms of his landings either. With the threat gone all of Las Vegas breathed a sigh of relief that the danger was finally over but at the back of their minds worry still existed. After all it wasn't the heroes that had driven the monster off nor was it anything threatening either. The only reason the Hulk left was because he had wanted to leave and nothing more. It made them pray for the poor people in the green goliath's path because right at that moment it seemed as though no one short of God Almighty himself could stand up to the Hulk.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Just North of Round Mountain, Nevada**_

_**Six Hours Later**_

"Oooohhhhh! What hit me and whose name should I put on the lawsuit?" Xander muttered as he sat up and tried to relieve the pressure behind his eyes by squeezing the bridge of his nose.

To say that Xander Harris had a headache would be a gross understatement as it felt like Buffy had been wailing on his head with a mace from Giles' weapons locker for an entire week. It took a few moments but eventually he managed to push the headache/migraine to the back of his mind. Opening his eyes he froze as shock at his current surroundings robbed him of the ability to do anything at all. All around him as far as the eye could see was nothing but rock, dirt, sand and mountains. The only sign of civilization was the faint glow of light in the distance but at the moment which direction to go in was the least of his concerns. Standing up he almost immediately had to grab his pants in order to keep from flashing the wilderness since sometime between the interrogation of General Ross and now they had been seriously stretched. At their present proportions it looked as though they had been almost torn apart until recently particularly around the knees. It was with the noticing of the state of his pants that he also discovered that aside from those pants he was completely without clothing of any kind.

_Great! This is almost as bad as when Faith tossed me out of her hotel room! _He thought to himself as he looked about for something, anything, he could use to keep his pants up.

Unfortunately when you were in the middle of nowhere finding a belt wasn't the easiest thing to do. In the end he had to settle for using a sharp rock to create a small hole two belt rings to the left and then fit the jean button through that hole. It wasn't pretty by a longshot but after a few experimental steps as well as a hop he was satisfied that he could at least move around without having to worry about getting drafty all of a sudden. With that matter dealt with he decided he'd better start making tracks towards those lights because aside from the need for better fitting clothes he also didn't want to have to sleep out in the desert if he didn't have to. After all it got just as cold at night as it got hot during the day and when added to the numerous predators that were likely skulking about he didn't want to become a frozen TV dinner anytime soon. Slowly making his way down from the small hill of rocks he had awoken on he eventually made it to ground level. Looking around in an attempt to decide on a direction to start walking he decided that going towards the glowing horizon was as good a direction as any. After all on a clear night outside of Sunnydale you could easily tell which direction L.A was just by the glow of lights on the horizon. With some mild swearing about his lack of footwear he took off in a light jog towards his destination as he figured that he'd need to pace himself if he was going to make any sort of progress towards his destination. Fortunately though his soldier memories from Halloween over a year ago helped him out a lot since part of the training soldiers received was how to make it back to HQ if you were dropped in the middle of nowhere.

_Of course they had the basics like water, a compass and of course clothes!_ Xander thought to himself sarcastically as he did his best to mind where he put his feet so he didn't step on anything sharp or dangerous.

For the next two hours he jogged across the wilderness of Nevada with no real destination in mind aside from 'go to the shiny horizon'. Eventually he wound up approaching the left most edge of a mountain and thanked whichever higher being had taken pity on him because jogging on more or less smooth rock sure as hell beat pebble covered ground. However before he could get to the foot of the mountain to begin climbing he stepped on something that felt decidedly not natural and most certainly of the bad. If it was a mine of some kind he was so screwed because with the momentum he had built up from jogging he wouldn't be able to freeze in place like a smart person would. Deciding that his only option was to jump as far as he could and hope he could avoid the bulk of the shrapnel he pushed off the ground with all the strength his legs could muster. Landing on the ground a few seconds later he covered his head in preparation for the blast that while yet to happen he was sure would happen very soon. However when nothing happened after a full minute he had only one response to something that should have happened but didn't.

"Huh?" He said in confusion as he wondered where the 'boom' was along with the pain.

Looking back at the spot where he had felt the change in the ground as well as the slight 'click' sound that had made him think he had stepped on a mine he wondered what had happened. Getting to his feet he walked over to the rough spot where he had felt the foreign object he spotted something dark green poking out from under a thin layer of dirt. Wiping it away he uncovered an object that certainly was the general circular shape one would expect from a mine but it was definitely not of Earthly origin from the tech he could see looking through its few transparent areas. There were way too many components that he hadn't seen anything like outside of a sci-fi movie. If this wasn't of Earth then who had put it here and what was its purpose? If it wasn't intended to turn the unwitting subject into hamburger then what was it for?

Then it came to him.

A security system.

This was some sort of early warning system like a laser tripwire or motion detector and he had just tripped said alarm big time. He had no idea how long he had until the ET's showed up to see what had stumbled into their territory but he knew that running away wasn't an option. With the kind of tech he saw in this tripwire mine he doubted that they'd have any problems following him and follow him they would since he had seen a sign of their being here. Not knowing how much time he had before the 'guards' came to investigate what set off their alarm he looked around the immediate area and tried to come up with some kind of plan.

_Okay! Running away isn't an option so that means I have to hide and fast before they get here._ He thought to himself while keeping his emotions in check like a good soldier would since he knew they'd only get in the way, _Hopefully security guard slacking off is universal and they'll only give the place a quick once over rather than break out the tricorders or whatever scanning devices they have._

Eventually he found a small crack in the side of the mountain, barely big enough for him to fit in if he slid in sideways, but deep enough that the guards would have to actually walk up and look in to see him. Darting towards it he wasted no time sliding into the crack and getting deep enough into it to hide but close enough to the entrance so that he could do something if spotted. Once comfortable with where he was he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing down in his best attempt at blending into the background in order to remain safe from detection.

Minutes passed as he waited but never did he stop his efforts to remain hidden but eventually the sounds of boots on gravel reached his ears and he knew the rent-a-cops were finally here. Louder and louder their footsteps got and according to his soldier memories he could tell that there were only two of them. Of course that assumed that they were bipedal but he decided to not make things any more complicated then necessary since it would probably make his head explode. Eventually the sounds of voices mixed with the footsteps and it wasn't long before he could pick up on what the two were talking about.

"I don't see why we have to come out here," said Voice One with irritation clearly in his voice. "It's probably just another primitive life form like all the other false alarms were tonight."

"Even if it is we have our orders: nothing and no one is to enter the target area for the duration of the mission," Voice Two said with some sympathy for his buddy's position but still dedicated to doing his job, "Besides do you want to be the one to tell Lord Helspont that we let an intruder get inside the target area because we were to lazy to check out a perimeter?"

_So the big bad in this SNAFU is named Helspont huh?_ Xander thought to himself as half of his mind tried to figure out how to get the drop on the two guards, _Sounds like some kind of Demon Lord but then again it could just be some sort of moronic cult of some kind._

"Not on your life!" Voice One exclaimed clearly not wanting any part of something that would anger this Helspont character, "Living inside a human host might be disgusting but it beats being dead!"

_Host? Are they vampires of some kind or something else entirely?_ Xander thought as the shadows of the guards cast by the moonlight overhead appeared just outside the crack, _Man! The one time that I need G-Man and his books is the one time they aren't here! Shit!_

"I hear that! Let's give the area a good look around then head back to the dig site." Voice Two said in clear agreement with his friend when it came to self-preservation, "I want to be there when they finally lug that piece of Kherubim trash out of the ground so we can get outta here."

If Xander was interpreting their words right the 'demons' were out here in the middle of nowhere digging something important up and didn't want any uninvited guests crashing the party. The object of their search was apparently not something they liked though since Voice Two talked about it the same way he spoke about vampires. Which meant that this 'item must be pretty damn important if they hate its previous owners to that degree. Needless to say with the handful of info he had to work with the Zeppo turned Key Guy had a feeling that it would be not of the good for these guys to get what they were after. At that point though another part of his mind, the smart part, reminded the rest of him that he was unarmed and had nothing more than a pair of badly stretched jeans to his name at the moment. The smart part of him then pointed out that with such meagre resources at his disposal he couldn't possibly foil the plans of some alien/demonic group capable of laying pressure sensitive trip mines out over a considerable area. Unfortunately while the smart part of him was indeed talking and even mentally gesturing to the rest of him the majority of the being that was Xander LaVelle Harris was already coming up with a half-baked plan.

The smart part of him simply sighed and acknowledged yet another defeat before breaking out the blindfold, putting it on and waiting to see whether or not Death would take them this time.

Watching as the lights from the guards' flashlights appeared outside the crack he was hiding he watched them pan back and forth on the ground before continuing on. Eventually, just like he had expected, the two men holding those flashlights walked by and his was happy to see that they were wearing pretty much normal clothes. Fedoras, John Lennon-like shades, brown trench coats, blue shirts, grey pants and boots was apparently the uniform of choice for these goons. What made him even happier though was the fact that one of the two guards was apparently his size and that would make the first phase of his hastily-conceived plan a lot easier. Waiting until he was quite certain that the two goons were far enough away that he could sneak out of the crack without them hearing he stealthily emerged from his hiding place. Creeping along with every ounce of stealth he could muster he came up slowly behind the two guards while mentally praying that both morons didn't turn around any time soon. Once he figured that he was within range to either initiate phase two of his plans or get discovered he reached up with his right hand and tapped the goon on the left on the shoulder. As soon as the goon began to turn to see who exactly had tapped him on the shoulder Xander threw the strongest punch he could manage and nailed the thug right on the jaw. Only waiting long enough to see the hired muscle begin crumpling he reversed the direction of his right arm so that his elbow hit goon number two in his jaw just as hard. Unfortunately goon two wasn't knocked unconscious like goon number one had been but rather seemed to be only somewhat dazed instead.

"Who are yo--?" Goon two asked reaching inside his coat for something but a right and a left quickly laid him out on the ground just as unconscious as his pal.

As soon as Xander was reasonably certain that neither of the goons were going to be getting up anytime soon he knelt down and relieved both of them of anything that looked like a weapon or communications device. Granted he had no idea what an alien/demon communications device looked like since he was more to talismans and such but that just made things simpler as he just took anything that looked suspicious. Once he was done he uncomfortably began to undress the one who he had tagged as being his size and once the man was down to just his boxers he picked up what looked like a ray gun and shot the man once in the head as well as once in the heart. He didn't like doing this but it was necessary if the rest of his plan was going to work. Besides if he was a demon then he had probably deserved what he had gotten and if he was human Xander would worry about the guilt later. He was just about to begin putting on the man's clothes when a large reptilian-like demon sprang out from within the dead man's body and tried to charge Xander head on. Fortunately the demon's speed was no match for Xander's Sunnydale honed reflexes so five shots later the demon was just as dead as the man it had been living inside.

"Oookay then! Demons possessing human or at least human looking bodies." Xander muttered to himself as he tried to mentally digest what he had just seen, "Right then! Next time I shoot these guys instead of just knocking them unconscious."

With that in mind he took of the torn purple pants he had gotten from Egghead and put on the dead guy's clothes. As for the gear and accessories the only thing he was willing to hang on was the ray gun and the holster for it since everything else was took complex or suspicious looking. Once done he figured it was time to wake up goon number two and 'persuade' him to lead the Zeppo back to the dig site so he could throw a Plymouth sized monkey wrench into this Helspont's plans. Keeping the ray gun trained on the unconscious man's chest while at the same time keeping a safe distance away he picked up a small rocked and threw it at the guys head. When that didn't work he got a little closer and kicked the guy in the shins and while he was sure the pain had registered with the goon nothing else happened. Deciding to go for broke he raised his foot and was about to bring it down on the man's stomach when without warning goon number two came to life and made a grab for the Zeppo's descending foot. Fortunately Xander had been expecting something like this and was easily able to push off the ground with his other foot and put some distance between him and the hired thug.

"Nice to see that you're awake. Now on your feet." He said as he motioned with the barrel of the ray gun to emphasize his order, "Slowly."

The goon seemed ready to refuse but a single shot from the ray gun just to the right of his head quickly convinced him otherwise.

Once the thug was on his feet Xander said "Now take me to this dig site you and your buddy were talking about. Keep in mind though that one false move or a single attempt to warn your comrades about my presence will result in your immediate termination."

"Like I'm going to take orders from a worthless human!" Goon Two barked out trying to sound tough and confident, "Besides Lord Helspont would kill me if I brought an intruder back with me."

"Yeah this Helspont guy does seem like the sort that would kill one of his men for not throwing his life away out of blind loyalty but I can guarantee you that I will kill you if you don't start walking." Xander said in the same stone cold voice he had used on Angelus in the hospital, "It's your choice: a certain death here from your buddy's ray gun or a possible death later on assuming this Helspont guy catches you. After all in the chaos I'm planning to let loose you could easily slip away in the confusion. So what's it gonna be?"

For a moment it looked like the goon would still refuse but then he sighed and began to walk back in the general direction he and his pal had come in. However this supposed surrender turned into an attempt at misdirection when Goon Two went left when he should have headed right. A single shot in front of the man stopped him in his tracks while at the same time got his complete and undivided attention.

"Nice try baldy but I know which direction you came from so no more leading me 'away' from the dig site and more leading me 'to' the dig site alright?" Xander asked with hostile sarcasm.

Growling in anger the hired goon turned around and began walking in the right direction with the Zeppo close enough to kill him if he tried anything but far enough away so that he could evade any underhanded tricks that were sent his way.

_So once again it is up to Xander Harris to keep the forces of evil from doing something to tip the balance in their favour!_ Xander thought with a barely restrained roll of his eyes, _Man! The PTB's must really be desperate if I'm the best they can do right now!_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Dig Site, Thirty Minutes Later_

"Keep moving and keep in mind that if you cause me any trouble I'll shoot to wound rather than kill and let your boss Helspont deal out his own brand punishment." Xander said as he pressed the barrel of the ray gun extra hard into Goon Two's back, "After all I doubt it'll matter that you alerted your friends to me being here since I never would have found this place without your help."

This got another growl of anger out of the demon in human clothing but apparently lizard boy was concerned enough about his own survival to obey even if it was reluctantly. They had passed the outer checkpoints easily enough and were now making their way into the dig site proper where all the work was being done. He had been a bit suspicious when neither of the two guards they had come upon had noticed anything strange about Goon Two's position relative to him or the short and to the point responses to their questions but as a full ten minutes had passed without incident he decided to chalk it up to goon mentality and general stupidity. Of course that didn't stop him from keeping an eye out for suspicious movements among the demons or large clumps of minions at prime ambush areas. If it turned out that they were just giving him enough rope to hang himself with he'd use Goon Two as a shield and do his best to commandeer one of their vehicles in order to make a quick getaway.

From what he could tell most of the demons serving this Lord Helspont were down around a single hole in the ground with just a loose circle of guards protecting it. Off to the side though was something that Xander immediately classified as being the main threat he'd have to deal with if things turned sour. It was a ship of some kind, primarily green with some muddy brown bits here and there, that while it might have been the 'mother ship' looked more like a shuttlecraft of some kind. In either case that was likely where the big boss was along with any heavy weaponry that he would likely have to be insane to want to be on the receiving end of. All in all he was in a prime position to observe things for a short time before taking any action against these demons. All he'd have to do is dispose of his guide here and find an out of the way dark corner to spy from. Keeping himself and his 'guide' walking along the perimeter of the dig site he began to scan the immediate area for possible dumping sites while at the same time trying to hide the fact that he was leading Goon Two around at gunpoint. After all it would only take one minion to glance in their direction, look at them from the right angle and then connect the dots to put the entire place on full alert.

_Something I'd like to avoid at all costs thank you very much!_ He thought to himself as he spotted what looked like a particularly large clump of vegetation a short distance away, _Ah! Just what the infiltrator ordered._

It wasn't exactly an all encompassing hiding spot since its concealing ability would depend greatly on what angle a minion was looking at it from but it was the best he could do on such short notice. So once the two of them were in range of the bush he quickly thumped Goon Two on the back of the skull knocking him out and then swiftly dragged him behind as well as into the bush. Once there he took a quick look over the top of the greenery to see if anyone had spotted the activity before he took the man's belt off and tied him up with it. He did it in a rather creative way so that if the goon moved his legs in an attempt to straighten them out he'd wind up choking himself. Once that was done he tore a strip of cloth off the man's coat and used it to gag the minion before a second strip was torn off and used to thoroughly bind the flunky's hands. Once he was satisfied that Goon Two was sufficiently hidden and restrained to not cause him any trouble he stepped out from behind the bush and settled into a casual trot.

Little by little he began to work himself closer to the hole in the ground that seemed to be the center of attention for everyone present. He wasn't about to go all the way to the edge since he didn't want to risk one of the minions spotting a new face in the crowd and pointing him out. All he was hoping for was a place close enough so that whenever the piece of 'Kherubim trash' got pulled out he'd be in a good position to see what the fuss was about. If it turned out to be something like an arcane computer core or something he'd just shoot out whatever it was that was pulling it out of the ground and let it crash at the bottom of the hole. After all if it's been in the ground for so long it's buried that deep it'll probably be pretty fragile or at least breakable if dropped from a sufficient height. Of course as soon as he was certain that the crash and smash part of his plan was a success he'd be neck deep in trouble at which point his escape plan pretty much consisted of running like hell and hiding out in the mountains. Not exactly brilliant but given what marks he graduated high school with it was pretty good.

_With a little luck I'll be able to lose them, ship or no ship, and then make a break for civilization. _Xander thought to himself as he began to notice an increase in activity around the hole, _Hopefully a group determined to keep intruders out will also be determined not to attract undue attention to itself whether it be civilian or otherwise._

Trying to make himself look like your typical minion and still keep an eye on the hole on the ground he waited for the 'big prize' to appear. He didn't have to wait long as a few moments later a low humming sound spread throughout the area and from what he could tell was being generated by something in the hole. Louder and louder did the hum get until finally a metal lid of some kind rose from the hole and that lid was sitting on top a transparent glass-like tube before ending with some kind of techno bottom with a control console built into it. However it was the contents of the 'containment tube', as he liked decided to dub the device, which had his attention at the moment. There were two things in the tube that he could see, ricocheting red energy and a silvery mass that didn't like the red energy one bit. If he had to make a guess he would liken it to an electrified fence in that the energy that was dancing around the perimeter of the tube was keeping the silvery mass contained. What that mass was of course he had no clue but given the movement he saw from it he had the distinct impression that it was alive or at the very least self-aware. Then when he combined sentient/self-aware and the jerky shaky movements he was saying he knew the being was in considerable pain.

_Not sure what that is but I doubt that it's having a good time in there._ He thought to himself as the platform it was on hovered away from the hole and towards the shuttle, _It also looks like I had better make my move before the tube gets on that shuttle or it'll be all over for Silvia._

Bringing his ray gun up he fired a total of five shots at the tube with two aimed at the 'lid', two at the bottom where the controls were and finally a single shot to the tube itself in the hopes of shattering it. Worked like a charm as the control panel received damage enough to catch fire and start smoking, the lid was blown almost half off and the tube itself now had a sizeable hole in it. Best of all though one of his hits apparently shut down the crimson energy that was hurting the silvery mass inside the tube. However that was about all he was able to discern before more pressing matters, like survival, became a factor as just about every minion in the area centered their attention along with their weapons on him. Deciding that there was only one place he might be even relatively safe he made a break for the containment tube in the hopes that these guys wouldn't risk damaging the goods just to get little ol' him. It was a hail of deadly energy the entire way and it was mostly dumb luck that he was able to kill any minion that got in his way with a single shot. In a way it reminded him of those first person shooter games, DOOM and Quake, in that enemies would appear either from the left or the right or straight ahead and then with a slight adjustment of where the weapon was pointed he would open fire. Of course this did nothing for the goons behind him but he figured if he kept zipping back and forth in a random enough pattern everything should be okay.

_I hope!_ He thought with a bit of desperation as he dove the rest of the way to the containment tube and used its base as cover.

Moving quickly to force those minions who had a clear line of sight to less advantageous spots he knew that he was in serious trouble. His original plan of running for the mountains and hiding had been discarded at the moment when he should have enacted it due to the fact that he believed it was too far away to make safely. The mountains looked especially far away when another possible source of safety was a great deal closer. True the containment tube was only good as long as all the baddies stayed on the other side of it but it was better than playing tag with laser fire or whatever in the open. Frantically glancing to the left, the right and straight in front he kept his back pressed flat against the bottom half of the containment tube machine thing. As far as his eyes could tell he had succeeded for the most part at getting the minions either on the other side of the containment tube or to places that would require expert marksmanship to hit him from. His mind thought on the likelihood of there being an expert marksman among these thugs for a moment before he disregarded the possibility. From what he had seen of their movements and the chatter amongst Goon One and Goon Two they weren't incompetents but at the same time they weren't exactly 'the best of the best' either. Which meant he had to come up with an escape plan ASAP or else he'd be a very dead or very captured Xander sooner or later. Deciding to risk peeking up over the bottom machine part of the containment tube he quickly scanned the area in that direction for some kind of transportation. It didn't matter if it was a hum-V or a dirt bike since he wasn't exactly in a position to be picky about his escape ticket out of here.

_SHIT! Looks like they all came on that shuttle!_ He thought as he ducked back down behind the containment tube and surveyed the area on his side of the tube for advancing minions.

This was bad on an epic scale. It meant that unless he wanted to take his chances hijacking an unknown shuttlecraft he was essentially screwed. It was times like these that the more intellectual and rational side of his brain had a field day with 'Told you so' and 'you stupid idiot' remarks. At times like this he had to agree with them since he had no idea how many more shots his ray gun had before it would run dry much less a 'Plan B' for getting out of this mess in one piece. All he had as far as a hope right now was that there was just enough shots in the ray gun to kill enough of the minions to get them to retreat into the shuttle and high tail it out of here. Of course given that that sucker was probably armed they'd likely just reduce this entire area to dust rather than leave their 'prize' in his hands. He still didn't have a clue what the silvery mass was aside from the fact that it didn't like red energy and was likely self-aware/sentient in some manner. Why it would be so important to these guys he didn't have a clue. He just hoped that when it recovered from whatever trauma the crimson energy had put it through that it would be capable of making a break for it. With a little luck the rest of the goon squad would chase off after 'Silvie' as he was calling the silvery mass and give him the opening he needed to make a break for it. Then again Silvie could be too weak to do squat and he was back to being screwed which was looking more and more likely to the final outcome.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Came a distorted booming voice from the direction of the shuttle and suddenly the gunfire from the minions stopped.

Peeking over the top of the controls for the containment tube he spotted something that looked like a cross between a demon from Giles' books and a comic book villain. Starting from the top was a head shaped thing made completely out of blue flames and it only had a skull-like mask to give it any definition at all. Below that was something that looked like a cross between body armour and a containment suit since there was a transparent portal in the center of the chest area where more of the blue flame could be seen. It only covered his chest leaving his arms and legs clad in something that looked like spandex or leather but which he was willing to be was tougher than either fabric. Then to top it all off ol' propane puss apparently felt he needed a big flowing purple cape in order to make himself look more impressive.

_Don't know why because he's making a serious impression on me right now. If I don't think of something quick I bet he's going to make several painful impressions on my body!_ Xander thought to himself as began to feel genuine fear coalesce in his chest.

The fear was understandable considering that his current situation was far more dangerous than anything he had previously experienced. There was no Scooby gang to back him up, no quick escape route he could employ to avoid the butt load of pain he was about to receive and the only weapon in his possession was a laser pistol. Add to that the fact he doubted the pistol would do more than piss off Mr. Bic-head over there and fear was definitely beginning to take hold of him. He was going to die in a few moments and that was the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario had him being tortured for information for a few weeks, subjected to bizarre experiments for a few months and then left to die a slow death in the middle of nowhere. Gripping the pistol/ray-gun in both hands he listened to a part of himself that told him to go down fighting and began to raise the weapon to aim it at the man with the flaming skull who was approaching him. However he could tell that this baddie didn't feel threatened in the least by the sight of a weapon being aimed at him but whether that was because it couldn't hurt him or the fact that it was shaking in the Zeppo's hands was anyone's guess. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, beating louder and louder, as a neon green tinge began to manifest itself in his vision.

"You must not confront Helspont," came a voice that sounded like three to five women saying the same thing but slightly out of synch with one another. "He is too powerful for you fight and survive."

Surprised by the unexpected voice Xander's fear temporarily tapered off as he looked in the direction of the female voice had come from. What he spotted was something both welcome and at the same time something he had not expected when he had seen the contents of the containment tube earlier when it first appeared. Hovering mid-air just outside and to the right of the tube was what looked like a woman covered in a skin-tight substance that looked like a silvery metal of some kind. The only part of her that looked human was her face but the spooky white light that took the place of her eyeballs was a little intimidating. Her human-like appearance and her voice left him clueless about what to make of her but given that she had just handed him advice with the intent of keeping him alive he was willing to trust her and give their the benefit of a doubt.

"Well if you have any suggestions on how I can get outta here in one piece then let's hear it?" he asked half rhetorically half seriously as he saw out of the corner of his eyes that Mr. Flame head was getting closer and did not look pleased.

"I will open a portal but you must pass through it immediately." Silvie replied in a neutral tone, "I do not possess enough power to keep it open for very long."

"Somehow I don't think I'll have any reason to stick around here." Xander said with a little impatience as he got the distinct impression that time was running out for him judging from the look on the mug of ol' Propane Puss.

"Very well." Silvie stated before turning away from him.

Then, in a move that could be best described as becoming liquid and going down the drain, she opened a circular portal in mid-air before spiralling down it herself. Remembering her comment about not being able to keep this portal open long he didn't think twice as he leapt into it not particularly caring where he ended up. After all what could be worse than being surrounded by laser gun wielding minions along with a bad guy that looked like he jumped right out of the pages of a comic book. As he slid further and further down the portal he thought about what he had said and then cursed himself for his stupidity.

_Just how stupid am I? Asking a question like that is like saying 'looks like it is going to be a quiet night' on the Hellmouth!_ He thought to himself with a growl, _Some times I have to wonder just how I've managed to live as long as I have with a brain like this!_

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Back at the Daemonite Dig Site_

What had just happened?

It was a question that was going through the minds of more than a few of the lesser Daemonites who had been assigned to guard the dig site until the Kherubim computer core had successfully been retrieved and loaded onto the shuttle. While the specifics of this mission hadn't been widely distributed among those of insufficient rank it was known that the computer core supposedly held information vital to their cause. Whether it was the location of an ancient weapon of incredible power or simply a source of endless power none but Lord Helspont's inner circle knew for certain. One thing the lower echelon Daemonites knew though was that their Lord was not happy right now as the flame that was a part of his Acurian host body burned extra brightly and even more fiercely whenever he was significantly displeased by something. Judging by the brightness and ferocity being exhibited right now each minion was beginning to fear for their lives.

"RRRAAGHHHH!" Lord Helspont roared as he unleashed an energy blast from his right hand the obliterated the containment tube that had once held the Kherubim computer core.

No one who had witnessed this moved an inch for fear of attracting their Lord's attention and therefore his wrath. Fortunately though whatever Daemonite gods were watching them this night had apparently decided that there had been enough excitement for one night. The flames the composed the majority of Lord Helspont's head calmed and while some waited a moment or two more to make sure the flames reflected their Lord's emotional state most minions breathed a sigh of relief. They had been spared and allowed to live another day.

"GLORIFICUS." Lord Helspont commanded without moving an inch or shifting his gaze from the smoking remains of the containment tube.

"Yes my Lord?" Came the voice of a particularly smug female voice from behind the Daemonite Lord.

The woman who came up behind Helspont might look like a brainless human female but to those with a high enough IQ and the smarts to keep up to date on all the latest information she a mentally deranged killing machine. While most certainly a Daemonite in origin it was rumoured that something had gone wrong with a human host had become available for her to possess. Her mind had been deeply affected and while she was confoundedly gifted with several advantageous powers her mental stability was often brought into question. There was even a rumour that once when she had failed to kill a female Kherubim warrior that she had gone into a homicidal rage and slaughtered the entire team of minions assigned to her. Whether the rumour was true or not was debatable but it certainly made those assigned to a mission she was the leader of a little twitchy.

"THAT INTURDER HAS TAKEN SOMETHING THAT I DESIRE." Helspont stated with barely contained anger, "GET IT BACK. NO MATTER THE COST."

"By your command my Lord." Glorificus replied before bowing respectfully.

With that done Lord Helspont turned and strode back to the shuttle like the ruler he was. Unfortunately that left the lesser Daemonites spread out over the dig site alone with someone they believed could quite literally snap at any moment and kill them all. That was why it was perfectly understandable for all of them to think the following thought.

'Why didn't I just let that intruder kill me?'

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_On the Outskirts of Carson City, Nevada_

"Oooommph!" grunted Xander as he exited the portal and tumbled to the ground.

It had been a seriously weird ride and given by the brief moments when the corridor of energy he had been flying through had seemed to wink in and out randomly he knew Silvie hadn't been joking when she said she barely had enough power to pull her little trick off. Fortunately though since he was here in good old reality rather than stuck in some kind of in between place because he was in no mood to starve to death in some place he didn't understand. Of course the landing could have been a little more graceful but 'any landing you can walk away from' and all that. Looking around the immediate area he didn't have to look far to find a clue about where he and Silvie had ended up since not twenty feet from him was a sign that said 'Carson City 1 Mile'. While he had little idea how far that was from where the two of them had been before it was at least within walking distance of civilization. Unfortunately when his mind followed that train of thought another problem presented itself that made him curse his luck even more.

All his money was gone.

The money he had saved up for his cross country trip had likely been incinerated by the atomic blast and whatever money might have been in Egghead's spare clothes was likely long gone. That meant that even if he did manage to get the two of them into Carson City he didn't have the money to get them a hotel room or even a can of soda for that matter. Looking around for Silvie he found her on the ground apparently unconscious but given that he knew a whole lotta nothing about whatever she was she could be dead for all he knew. Kneeling down next to her he decided to go with the basic moves everyone uses when trying to ascertain whether or not a person is alive. First he tried to find a pulse of some kind, first by checking around her throat and then her wrist, and then he placed his hand over her mouth to see if she was breathing. Sadly whatever she was Silvie apparently had completely different body functions than a human so aside from being able to feel some body heat coming off of her he had no clue what her status was. With no way of knowing if she had any way of solving their cash flow problem he decided to search the pockets of the clothes he stole from Goon One to see if there was anything he missed that could be helpful. After checking his pants and the front pockets of the trench coat he began to think that the Harris luck had kicked in again but when he put his hand into the inside pocket of the coat he felt something that made him smile.

"So nice of the moron to have a nice fat wallet with him before he died." Xander said as he took it out to inspect its contents, "And look! Seems being a minion for old Propane Puss pays pretty good."

While not being anywhere near as much money as he had possessed when he left Sunnydale there was still a couple of hundred dollars in the bill fold of the wallet. It wouldn't last more than a week or so between two people but they would deal with the problems of funds later. Right now the most important thing was to get inside and recover their strength before putting some kind of plan together about what to do next. However it was as he was about to lift Silvie into his arms and carry her into town that he realized another problem he had overlooked. While he might be able to walk into Carson City without anyone batting an eye the same could not be said of the woman who looked like she had been dipped into a vat of liquid silver naked. Carson wasn't like Sunnydale where the residents would take any strange or unusual sight and rationalize it away rather than deal with it. In your average city away from the warping energies of a Hellmouth a women clad head to toe in skin tight silver would attract eyes big time. Limited in what he had to work with he took off the trench coat and hat and put them on Silvie in the hopes of making her a little less noticeable.

_Not great but at least if anyone asks I can just say that we're on our way back from a costume party, our ride home left without us and we decided to stay in Carson City for a few days._ He thought to himself as he picked up the now dressed Silvie.

Despite the fact that she looked like she should weigh as much as Buffy or Cordelia Silvie was actually pretty light in the weight department. It felt more like he was carrying a schoolbag filled with books in his arms rather than a person of Silvie's size. This was a good thing since a mile of walking was still a mile of walking no matter how you cut it and he wasn't exactly jock sized when it came to muscles. True his time on patrol staking vampires and beheading demons had burned off an impressive amount of slacker fat that he had possessed before meeting Buffy but his muscles still weren't enough to let him go toe to toe with Larry. With a slight adjustment of his hold on her in order to make sure that the hat that was on her head did its job in concealing her shiny chrome dome he started his walk to the city one mile distant.

_Hopefully there are a few rooms vacant someplace out of the way or else sleeping is not going to be pleasant tonight._ He thought to himself as he pictured either sleeping in someone's barn or picking the lock on one of those renting cottages.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Room 7B, Best Western Pinon Plaza Resort**_

**_2171 Highway 50 East, Carson City, NV_**

_Whew! Now that was a close one!_ Xander thought to himself as he set Silvie down on one of the two beds in the hotel room.

The two of them had just managed to get past the man at the hotel's front desk with the man believing that they were just a pair of costume party people too tired to drive home and wanting a place to stay. Though given the fact that the man had caught a glimpse of what Silvie looked like underneath the trench coat he probably thought that the two of them were one of 'those' couples and that he was better off not knowing. Smiling at that he had to admit that there were certain similarities between how he and Silvie had come into the hotel and that scene from 'Pretty Woman'. Silvie was definitely good looking enough to match Julia Roberts in the beauty department face and body-wise. He just counted himself lucky that she had come too just as they were approaching the hotel so she could more or less play the part of a slightly tipsy partygoer. After all if he had come in carrying her in his arms there would only be one of two possibilities people might come to as far as his mind was concerned. The first would be that the woman he carried had been attacked and he had brought her into the motel to get medical help and to summon the police. This would cause numerous problems since it wouldn't take a trained medic to determine she wasn't human in the slightest never mind the problems with the police. The other was that the two of them were a newlywed couple freshly eloped from the nearest Nevada church looking for the nearest hotel room to do the nasty in.

_No telling what might happen if Silvie and me failed to live up to that assumption._ Xander thought as he took off his shoes and tried to get comfortable, _Hell! No telling what might happen if we did try to keep up the appearance of a married couple!_

He shook his head after a picture of him and Silvie making out in one of the singles hotel beds popped up and slapped himself mentally upside the head for thinking of such a thing. It was bad enough that the Hellmouth seemed determined to have every weird woman in existence thrown his way he so didn't need to encourage the blasted PTBs to do it as well by thinking such things. After all if he went from praying mantis lady to Incan Mummy girl to insane femme vamp to Cordy to Anya and then flirt with the idea of Silvie here what is fate going to throw my way next?

"On second thought don't answer that question God." He muttered to himself as turned to see if there had been any change in Silvie's condition.

While it was true that she was 'conscious', if such a term could be used for a being like her, she seemed at the moment to be content simply to lay on the bed as still as anything. To him that meant that either she was conserving power or recharging somehow but damned if he could figure out which one it was. He wasn't Willow. He knew absolutely jack shit about technology. He barely knew how to program his VCR for God's sake! Still as he sat there wondering what to do he decided on the simplest course of action he could think of at the moment. Going over to the lamp sitting on the table between the two beds he grabbed a hold of the cord that fed it power and yanked. It didn't come out all the way on the first try but after a second he successfully had a cord with one end plugged into the wall and the other with bare wires showing. Placing the end with bare wires within easy arms reach of Silvie he decided that it was time to get some shuteye. After all there wasn't much else to do and he had a feeling that it was going to be a busy day tomorrow.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_The Next Day, Hotel Room 7B, 8:30 a.m_**

Waking up was an unusual experience for the former Zeppo turned Key Guy because for one thing it took him a minute to remember everything that happened to him since leaving Sunnydale. The other thing however that made waking up unusual was hovering a few feet away from the TV and shape-shifting into one female form after another. He knew it was Silvie since she was in the exact same pose she had been in before opening the portal but it wasn't her hovering or even her shape-shifting that was unusual. What was unusual was that none of the female forms she was changing into every five seconds was wearing any clothes! Floating in mid-air without a stitch of clothing on was Silvie changing from one female form to another and not one of these forms was …ahem… unattractive. Needless to say that seeing this first thing in the morning was a serious eye opener but he had to get his brain working again so he desperately tried to engage in conversation hoping it would distract him from her.

"Um… What are you doing?" He asked without using his little pet name for her just in case it was something offensive to her people.

This question unfortunately only made things worse as Silvie turned around to face him in order to answer his question. Suffice it to say that if the view from the back was stunning then seeing her from the front was threatening to send his brain and hormones into overload.

"The Daemonites who attempted to capture me last night will undoubtedly have sent search parties to all of the major cities in the area." Silvie replied while pausing in her shape-shifting attempts in order to converse with him, "Therefore I am attempting to reorganize my basic physical parameters in order to fashion a disguise so that I may evade them more easily."

_Not looking like that you're not!_ Xander thought to himself as he found that she had settled on a form that no guy would be able to ignore with clothes much less without.

Angelina Jolie.

He had had the biggest crush on her after seeing her in the movie called "Hackers" and after her swift rise to stardom in the years that followed there was no mistaking that she was a complete babe. There was even a rumour going around online that she was slated to take on the role of Lara Croft in the movie 'Tomb Raider' that was scheduled to premiere sometime in 2001. Whatever the case was he doubted that anyone aside from her current boyfriend saw this much of her and he didn't mean that in terms of time spent together. While definitely providing him with a few happy places to store away for a rainy day it was seriously messing with his thought processes.

"W-well if you're going to make up a disguise you should probably try to choose physical a-attributes that aren't quite as attractive to the human male population." Xander explained as he tried to keep his mind focused on his words and not her chest, "Try and choose features more common t-to average people. Just look at commercials or news broadcasts."

With that last bit of advice he got off the bed and made tracks for the bathroom saying something quickly about taking a cold shower. He needed to cool off and until Silvie finished choosing both her human form and her clothes he knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. As an afterthought though he shouted back to her that maybe she should choose a form closer to his own in terms of age. After all it wouldn't matter a whole lot if she chose a less attention grabbing form if people saw a thirty-something year old woman walking so close to a kid fresh out of high school.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_One Hour Later_**

_Here's hoping!_ Xander thought as he opened the bathroom door and left the security of the sink and tub behind.

He had taken extra long and been extra thorough going through his normal morning routine for the express purpose of giving Silvie enough time to settle on a new form and put clothes on it. Otherwise he was going to be a stuttering, red faced mess for quite a while and of course she'd probably do what most aliens did and ask 'what is wrong' and 'why are you acting like that' which would lead to him having to explain things. That was one of the down things that he hoped he'd be able to avoid with Silvie. He hoped that she could just watch TV or surf the net. Then she could learn all she needed to know about the human race without having to ask him a single thing. After all he was never the brains of the Scooby gang and didn't quite have either Willow or Giles' talent for explaining things clearly. He'd probably wind up giving her so much contradictory information that her head would explode.

"So settled on a disguise yet?" he asked as he turned in the direction of the beds where he presumed she still was.

"I believe I have successfully created a disguise that meets the specifications you mentioned while still possessing sufficient uniqueness so as not to be mistaken for someone already in existence." Came a female voice devoid of the 'five-in-one' thing she had going on earlier and sounded like it would fit right in with graduates of Sunnydale High School, "However as you are a native of this world I would appreciate your opinion on my selection."

"Whoa." He said barely above a whisper as he looked at the new and improved Silvie, "Not bad, not bad at all."

Silvie now had long brown hair that almost reached her waist and was completely straight rather than curly. Beneath that was pencil-thin eyebrows with blue eyes that were quite nice in the 'not too bright, not too dark' area. Her nose a little bigger than average but not so much that she'd be the obvious target of 'big schnoz' jokes. Going on down she had a cute set of lips that would, in his opinion, be able to perform a devastating 'puppy dog' look when in perfect synch with her eyes. From there came a rather lithe figure that looked like it belonged to a figure skater or someone skilled in gymnastics from how thin and limber it looked. He remembered Buffy for a moment and thought that she and Silvie had similar body structure with the only differences being Silvie's height advantage and being a bit more …blessed… in some areas than the blonde Slayer. Not that he was paying any special attention to those areas of course because while she might look like your average High School graduate he knew what she looked like in her normal form. It wasn't like he was going to ignore that and pretend she was an ordinary human being like him. Nope. Not one little bit.

"Looks good but you might want to watch a little television to update your vocabulary." Xander replied to her inquiry about her new look, "Not many people that look as old as you do talk like a computer or a stuffy Brit."

"Acknowledged." Silvie replied with a slight nod that told Xander she had already assimilated some of the expected human behaviour.

"No, no, no! Instead of saying acknowledged like a computer say 'okay' or 'alright'." He said as he figured he might as well get an early start on humanity 101, "By the way we haven't really introduced ourselves yet have we. My name's Xander."

"My designation is Void. I am the central computer core for the Kherubim warship Pantheon." Void replied as if she were reciting her name, rank and serial number to an interrogator, "My ship was engaged in a battle with a Daemonite battleship called the Behemoth in orbit of this world when both ships suffered critical damage in a collision. To my knowledge the majority of the Kherubim crew successfully made it to the escape pods however I cannot confirm that they safely made it to the surface as was forced to enter emergency stasis soon after the last pod was launched."

"How long ago was this?" he asked as he tried to remember if there had been any suspicious night time laser shows or bullshit stories handed out by the government that he could remember.

"I am uncertain but judging from the star constellations I saw during our escape as well as entering this structure I would estimate several thousand years." Void replied with a bit of uncertainty making it clear that she didn't know the precise number of years.

"Several thousand years! Man you must have one helluva shelf life for a computer core!" he exclaimed as he tried to figure out how some computer core, no matter how advanced, could last even a single millennia much less several of them.

"I was in emergency stasis for the majority of the time only coming back online when certain systems necessary for my survival were at risk." Void explained as she floated down to the ground in order to stand like a normal person.

"If you were able to come out of stasis then why didn't you leave the ship?" Xander asked as he picked at the one detail that made his brain itch, "After all if you could you probably could have hooked up with your crew sooner or later."

"Unfortunately it was necessary for me to remain with the ship until such time as the human race had advanced far enough to create the energy I require." Void stated before sitting down on the bed he had laid her down on the previous night, "While onboard the Pantheon I was able to absorb power from the ship itself in order to continue functioning. With the crash though many systems went offline and I was forced to survive on power from the emergency electro-magnetic generator. Now since I have been forced to abandon the Pantheon I will be required to absorb energy from your people's primitive electrical power generators every twenty-four hours."

"Makes sense." Xander said as he thought through what she had said and figured that it was probably like in 'Star Trek' when they needed to power down all but essential systems to maintain life support.

"I thank you for placing that active power cable next to me." Void said in what he was beginning to call her 'Vulcan' voice, "I was able to replenish much of my reserves with it."

"You're welcome. After you lost consciousness on the other end of your portal I figured you might need a recharge or something." Xander said before he looked over at the digital clock, "So, now that you're up and about what do you plan to do? You can't just head back to your ship given that those Daemonite baddies know where it is."

"I will attempt to locate the members of my crew that will have landed on Earth on the escape pods." Void replied promptly with worry that he could have imagined being in her voice, "While I do not know how many may have survive to this point in time the Kherubim have life spans much greater than that of your average human. It is quite possible that they are still alive and have not expired."

"Then I guess we better get started." He said as he slipped the trench coat that he had covered her up with last night on, "I got a few ideas about how to find them but first we should at least leave Nevada. Chances are Flame Face has already sent out search teams looking for you."

"We? Do you mean to imply that you wish to aid me in finding my crew?" Void asked with a slight tilt of her head like an inquisitive dog.

"Well, yeah. I mean I was the guy that busted you out so chances are they're looking for me only slightly less than they are looking for you." Xander replied with a shrug and a half-smile, "Makes sense we'd have a better chance of survival sticking together than splitting up. Besides which I left my hometown to see the country so this way I get to do that and help you out at the same time."

"Thank you." Void replied and though it might have just been his imagination Xander actually thought he heard some gratitude in that voice.

"No problem V-girl. That's what friends are for after all." He said and with that the two of them left the hotel and began a search that would change them both.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


	4. Things we have found:trouble&trouble

_Justice League Embassy, West Coast of America, One Day Earlier_

"How is she?" asked Superman as he approached Hawkgirl who stood outside of the infirmary observation window.

"Compared to some of the others she got off easy." Shayera replied turning her head to look at him, "Captain Atom needed to be transferred to a new containment suit, Green Arrow has a broken arm and some cracked ribs and John had both of his arms broken. Kara though managed to come through with some serious bruising and a decent concussion but nothing that won't heal up in a week or two."

It was clear from the tone in the Thanagarian's voice that she was particularly angry about Green Lantern's condition even though the two of them weren't dating anymore. Still her answer had been concise and to the point just like he had come to expect from her so he knew she had her emotions under control. Despite being invited back into the League after the part she played in the Thanagarian invasion there were still people who were distrustful of her. Still he knew her to be a good person at the core and was willing to give her a second chance to prove herself. Nevertheless he knew that the second the thing that hurt John surfaced the fiery redhead would demand to be on the team that went after it.

"Any sign of this 'Hulk' yet?" Shayera asked professionally as she turned away from the observation window.

"Unfortunately, no. His attack happened at the worst possible moment when all of the JLU satellites were too far out of position to track him very far." He replied as he thought back to what information the League had managed to gather so far, "All we know for certain is that he headed north from Las Vegas and that there has been no sighting of him crossing any state lines."

The narrowing of the Thanagarian's eyes told him that Hawkgirl was **not** happy with this lack of location data. However as heard the door leading to the infirmary open to reveal the doctor in charge he saw a chance to appease the winged warrior. Professor Emil Hamilton, despite his roll in Luthor's Cadmus plot, was still considered the foremost expert when it came to treating the injuries of super powered beings. Also Hamilton, in the aftermath of his work with Cadmus, felt guilty about how easily his own fears about the Justice League had been used against him by Luthor. Therefore when he approached Emil about a consult position with the League the professor had gladly accepted seeing it as a means of atoning for some of the things he'd done. The concerns about so many super heroes and heroines in one place working as a single organization still bothered the man but he was now willing to give the League the benefit of a doubt more often.

"How's Kara, Professor Hamilton?" Superman asked as the glasses wearing man approached him.

"Awake and she's asking for you." Hamilton replied as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, "Please try to be brief. She may have faired better than her team mates but she still needs her sleep."

Nodding he wasted no time in entering the infirmary and while he didn't exactly run he did go as fast as he could. What he saw when he looked in the direction of Kara's bed was enough to make him understand Hawkgirl's desire to find the Hulk. While he had been apprised beforehand as to what sort of injuries his cousin had sustained it was quite different to see them in person. Lying in a hospital was not the eager teenage girl looking to prove herself but rather a young woman with almost a third of her body covered in dark bruises. Wearing a hospital gown he was sure she'd be complaining about at some point when they talked, he could see that purple and yellow splotches on her body made her uncomfortable. Add to that the slightly dazed look in her eyes and the severity of the concussion was confirmed even without using his X-ray vision. She smiled, or rather tried and managed half a one, when she saw him and he could see her put on a face that said 'this is nothing'. Despite the desire to play the role of the overprotective 'big brother' he knew that would only make her mad so he decided to do his best to stay professional.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as though she just had a cold and would be over it in a day or two.

"Like I went twenty rounds with Darkseid, but I'll be alright." Kara replied with the usual teenage humor, "I guess you're here to find out about the guy that kicked our butts? The Hulk?"

"If it's not too much trouble." He said in a way that made it clear if she wasn't up to it they could come back later.

"No problem. Well he's at least as big as Grundy, maybe a foot taller, green all over except the torn purple pants he was wearing." Supergirl said as she recalled what she could about the powerhouse that had put her in this bed, "He's got muscles that'd put even Grundy to shame and enough strength in them that I know they aren't for show. A lot quicker than you'd think with that much bulk and he's either invulnerable like us or heals real fast. About the only thing we had in our favor was that his I.Q probably matched his shoe size."

"Sounds like my mace and I'll be getting a workout pretty soon." Hawkgirl said, convinced that the Hulk was just another Solomon Grundy.

"Probably. If you head down after him make sure that whoever you take with you can take a beating from me or you, Kal." Kara said with a little fear in her voice, "The doctors might not've told me how GL and the others are but I'm guessing they're a little worse off than I am."

"Don't worry. You just get some rest and do what the doctors tell you." He said patting her on the shoulder, "We'll take care of the Hulk."

"Give him a bloody nose for me will ya?" Kara asked before her cousin could leave the room.

"Count on it." Superman said while mentally he was thinking of giving the brute responsible for her injuries **a lot** more than a bloody nose.

Once out of the infirmary and the door closed he turned to Shayera and said, "Get the others together. We have to find this monster before he can do any more damage."

A nod was all he received before both he and Hawkgirl took to the air with him heading to the mainframe for information while she went to the communications center to gather the founding members of the Justice League.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Five Days Later (Four Days After we Last Saw Xander and Void)**_

_**Just Passing the City Limits of Salt Lake City, Utah**_

_Late Evening_

"I hope they're still in town." Xander said as he glanced at the sign welcoming them to Salt Lake City.

"If the information I acquired from the F.B.I database is accurate, then Lieutenant Commander Zealot should still be in the area 'tying up loose ends'." Void stated before looking at him to see if she had gotten that last part right.

"Then all we have to do is find her before she finishes off the last of Powers Enterprise's command structure." He said he reduced the speed of their rental to within the new posted speed limit.

Four days ago, after he had decided to help Void find her missing crew, they had gone to the local library, as it had both books and an internet connection, to hash out a plan on **how** they were going to search the whole world for a small group of people. While the total number of people aboard the Kherubim ship may not have been a lot compared to the six billion humans on Earth they didn't even make up half a percent of total population. Add to that the sheer number of places they could be and it had looked like it would take forever to find them all. Then he had gotten a bit of inspiration and suggested that they focus only on the command staff from the Captain, Lord Majestros, down to the chief helmsman, Yohn Kohl. By the former Zeppo's line of reasoning if the crew managed to survive the crash landing then the command staff would have been the ones to choose how they integrated with human society and thus would know where every crewmember was even in the present. With that in mind they made a list of the four people most likely to have survived the crash and to have made the big decisions afterwards. Lord Majestros, Zealot, Lord Emp and Yohn Kohl were the four they had decided to search for and, thankfully, this narrowed things down by quite a bit.

_Not as much as I had hoped but hey every little bit helps._ He thought as he watched the scenery fly by.

With a loose game plan in mind he started looking through all the old history books for people that matched Void's descriptions both in terms of appearance and personality. While he did this she would, discreetly, use her abilities to search online for any promising clues. While he had only managed to get through about seven books by the end of the day, most of them mythology oriented, Void managed to hit the mother load. Apparently she had been running a search on combat reports that described tactics and weaponry similar in form and use to that employed by a Coda warrior. It had taken her so long because she had experienced some difficulty hacking through the security erected around the mainframe of the **FEDERAL BUREAU of INVESTIGATION**. He had almost gone nuts but she told him that she had taken numerous precautions to make sure that her 'incursion' couldn't be traced or that anyone could know what files she'd been looking at. Given that she was a computer herself, a very sophisticated one at that, he calmed down, trusting that she knew what she was doing and that they wouldn't have a S.W.A.T team waiting for them later.

According to the records and files she had hacked there had recently been a series of assassinations of board members of a prominent company called Powers Enterprises. Whoever was responsible had started at the top with Paxton Powers, the C.E.O, and had been working their way down to the small fry members of the board. Based on the coroner reports and accounts filed by the agents in charge of the investigation the weapons used were a combination of bladed weapons, most likely a sword, and a plasma-based energy weapon. Based on the photos of the crime scene and the notes by the coroner, which Void found 'quite detailed', the sentient computer determined that Zealot and perhaps one other had been the perpetrators behind the assassinations. He'd been a little concerned about trying to find an assassin but was willing to go with the flow and hope that this 'Zealot' had good reasons for killing those people. With a destination in mind they had set out for Salt Lake City and here they were three days later driving to where they hoped they'd find the woman they were looking for.

"So any ideas on how to find Zealot?" He asked as he turned towards a motel on the outskirts of the city, "Any pattern to her attacks that we can follow?"

"Perhaps, but any pattern would be extremely difficult to discern." Void replied as she stared off into space in a way that told him she was reviewing her files, "She would not want any level of law enforcement to be able to predict her or her targets for that matter."

"Then if we can't predict where she'll be, we'll just have to come up with a reason for her to come to us." He said as he pulled into the motel's parking lot.

"What do you have in mind?" Void asked as 'life' returned to her eyes.

"Well how about we put an ad or something in the top three newspapers in the city." Xander suggested as the two of them got out of the car, "We can word it in a way that would grab Zealot's attention and maybe even put a word written in Kherubim at the bottom. If we do it right then she'll want to make contact with us and then we can set up a meeting."

"A simple plan but it will need to be modified in order to ensure that no Daemonite agents will understand what it is they are seeing or what we are trying to do." Void said with the right inflections in her voice to convey she approved of the idea.

"Alright but, really, what are the odds that a Daemonite will not just pick up one of the newspapers we put the ad in but also figure out we're the ones who put it there?" Xander asked thinking that odds of him beating Buffy in a fight would be better.

"Less than twenty-two percent but, given our current situation, it would be unwise to risk giving away our position." Void said as the two of them entered the motel lobby.

Nodding he went up to the front desk and started the process of getting a room for the two of them. Fortunately, thanks to her holo-disguise, he could safely tell anyone who asked that she was his cousin or step-sister without anyone thinking twice about it. Step-sister or cousin were certainly less awkward classifications and he didn't have to worry about any lewd questions from certain strangers. Well… less than he had before anyways. Once they were in their room he kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed as it had been a long drive that he had to all on his own as Void didn't really know how to drive. Oh, she had copied the files about how to drive and had read up on it online but like any rational person knew, reading about driving and actually knowing how to drive were two completely different things. He had thought about letting her give it a try after the first day on the road but then remembered how big a dent it would put in their budget if they trashed the rental.

"Do you mind if I watch some television for awhile?" Void asked in her 'normal' five-as-one female voice since she had dropped the holo-disguise.

"Sure just keep the volume down so I can get some sleep." He said as crawled up the bed and set his head down on the comfy pillow.

"Sure." Void replied, showing yet another sign that she was slowly modifying how she spoke to match how a teenage girl should speak.

That said Xander rolled over and went to sleep because he just knew that tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

&&&&&&(&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Same Room, One Minute Later_

_He is strange for a human._ Void thought looking away from the television for a moment to look at the male that had chosen to help her.

It had been a fascinating few days since the Daemonites had extracted her from the wreckage of the Pantheon and if her estimates were accurate it would only get better. After viewing the nature of this world on television the first morning she had been both intrigued and, at the same time, disturbed. The world seemed to be an array of contrasts and conflicting ways of thinking but at the same time though there seemed to be an emerging movement towards a more civilized way of life. In fact Xander, in her estimation, was a prime example of humanity moving towards more enlightened ways of thinking and behaving. While the majority of the world seemed determined to persecute those different from themselves, like the emerging mutant species, Xander seemed willing to give anyone he met a chance before coming to any conclusions. True, a week was not enough time to fully understand a person through conversation but she had utilized an alternate source of information to add to what she knew of him. Once he had told her his full name she had searched the internet using such criteria as his name, apparent age, distinguishing features and unique words he commonly used. It had not taken long, for her anyways, to find the records pertaining to one Alexander LaVelle Harris of Sunnydale, California. While these files did inform her of the intolerable upbringing by his family and the abuse of power by his high school principal, Xander somehow managed to remain remarkably good-natured. An interesting young man and one, she was certain, would prove more helpful in fashioning her 'human personae' than the television.

_Until he has completed his rest cycle though I will have to make due with the television._ Void thought as she returned her gaze to the TV.

Thus far she had already managed to tell the difference between the 'entertainment' programs and actual real life footage of the human race. Unfortunately the gaps that existed in the varying behavior and situational responses shown in real life footage were proving to be troublesome. Tonight she intended to use a combination of the basic human characteristics she had learned from real life TV with the more extreme and irrational characteristics shown in the entertainment programs. By finding a balance between the two it was her theory that the resulting combinations would result in behavior considered within acceptable parameters of a female human teenager. She knew that her vocabulary was still outside the norm for a human eighteen years of age but until she fully understood the meaning and criteria for using slang terms she would refrain from using them. In her opinion speaking 'like a bookworm', as Xander called it once, might be strange to others but using slang terms improperly and at the wrong time would only result in further undue attention being directed her way.

_Still I am confident that my assimilation of the English language both official and slang will be completed within two months. _Void thought as she mentally changed the channel on the TV.

Reviewing the programs currently being displayed on each channel she quickly discovered that the vast majority of them were repeats or reruns of shows she had already seen and committed to memory. While there were some programs that were unknown to her they dealt primarily with the various animal life forms on the planet rather than the dominant species. Those shows, while scientifically interesting, were of no use to her and would not aide in her completing her human personae. It was as she reached the higher channels that she came upon those designated by the motel as 'pay-per-view' or programs that required the guests to pay a fee in order to view them. They were movies and sporting events of various sorts but Xander had advised against ordering one, saying that they were 'on a tight budget' and couldn't afford to waste the currency they had. Through covert glances and simple inquiries, she was ninety-eight percent certain of the total amount of money they had and had run through several consumption scenarios. By her estimation, while it would be 'tight' they could afford some unnecessary purchases and still retain sufficient funds to support the search for two weeks at least. With that conclusion in mind she decided to sample one of these 'pay-per-views' and determine if they were 'a waste' or if they contained information useful to her personae construction.

_Armageddon, Enemy of the State and Lost in Space._ Void read mentally as she went over the list of available movies.

However it was when she looked at a separate section, placed apart from the main section of selections that her interest was piqued. There were a set of three movies that possessed titles and casts that were not of the mainstream films commonly seen on TV or on the internet sites she had visited. The movies were placed under the heading of 'Adult Movies' but no further elaboration was made as to the theme or plot of the films. That left her to speculate what the content of the movies were and why guests at the motel would be interested in paying money to view them.

_Perhaps the classification of 'adult movie' is simply another level of the rating system used on the mainstream films._ She thought as she was aware of some movies being rated PG while others received the rating of R.

Maybe the classification used for these three films implied that they were intended strictly for adult level audiences since only adults could properly comprehend the content. That could mean that the content was significantly more complex and interesting than most of the films, television programs and 'reality shows' she had seen thus far. With sufficient justification for sampling the adult movies obtained she reviewed the list of titles once more in an attempt to choose the most interesting one. Once that was done she followed the instructions displayed in the pamphlet that had been on top of the TV and initiated the movie. At first it seemed to be like any other movie she had seen in that there were opening credits involving the studio that made the film followed by the primary cast members. However less than a minute later the true content of the film was revealed and for the next hour and a half she watched as the sights and sounds of the movie played out in front of her. When the film ended there was only one word she felt could adequately describe what she had just been watching.

_Fascinating._ She thought as she selected another movie from the adult section and prepared to watch it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_The Next Day, Noon, Entering the Lobby of the Motel_

"I will be waiting for you in the car." Void said as they exited the elevator.

"Okay. Paying the bill shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes." Xander replied as he watched the sentient computer from another planet head to the front doors of the motel.

Looking at her walking away he noticed that there was an odd sway to her hips that hadn't been there yesterday. It wasn't exactly a 'come and get me big boy' style sway but it was definitely different from the usual rod-up-her-metaphorical-butt method of walking that she had been using since they started out. When she first started to emulate human walking it had been just movements she probably copied by watching him. Two days later it 'evolved' into a style of walking more unique to her but still a purely functional imitation of human walking patterns. Now though her movements seemed to have a more human look and feel to them and while it could still use some work it was an improvement nonetheless.

_Must've been one helluva good night to watch TV I guess._ He thought as he gave the clerk at the front desk the room number and the name he had checked in under.

"That'll be one hundred and thirty-five dollars and twenty-nine cents, sir." The clerk stated after pulling up the necessary file and adding everything up.

Xander paused in puzzlement since the bill seemed a little bit higher than what he had originally thought it would be. When they had checked in he had asked about the prices for the rooms he had found out that a single room with two single beds would come to ninety-nine dollars and twenty-eight cents plus tax. Doing the math he had calculated that the end price would be between one hundred and fifteen and one hundred and twenty dollars. So to find that he had miscalculated by fifteen dollars was a bit of a mystery. Still it wouldn't solve anything arguing with the clerk over the price so he handed over the cash and asked for a receipt. That done and receipt in hand he headed for the front doors and the rental where Void was waiting for him. However with each step the mystery of the additional fifteen dollars still rattled around in his head so he unfolded the print out in his hand and looked to see where the extra money came from. What he found stopped him dead in his tracks and caused his eyes to open wide like dinner plates. After the fifth time reading it and making sure he wasn't imagining things he quickly stuffed the receipt into his pocket and walked as quickly and inconspicuously as possible for the rental car.

Getting into the driver's seat he closed the door and took a moment to calm down before he took the receipt out of his pocket and passed it to Void who was in the passenger seat.

"I don't suppose you know why there are **three** adult movies charged to our room?" He asked as calmly as possibly but also letting her know he'd like an answer.

"I was attempting to assimilate more information last night from the television as I have done since we first began our search for my missing crew members." Void replied casually and honestly, "However the programs being shown last night were either unsatisfactory or ones that I had already seen before. After making a quick estimate of our financial situation I determined that it would not be a problem to purchase one of the pay-per-view movies that the motel offered."

"I get that part but what made you choose **those** movies?" He asked her almost dreading the answer he'd get, given the nature of the being he was talking to at the moment.

"I was curious about the content. The descriptions in the pamphlet were not helpful and when I tried to deduce the nature of the films on my own I concluded that the movies were intended for adult level intellects only." Void replied with a hint of genuine interest in her teenage girl voice, "I must admit I did not know the content would be of that specific nature, but it was interesting nonetheless. Intrigued, I watched the other two as well and found them to be quite informative."

_Oh HELL!_ He thought as his imagination managed to come up with numerous scenarios and possible thoughts that were probably bouncing around her computer brain.

The worst part was he couldn't really blame her for watching those movies because of who and what she was. It hadn't been perversion or lust or anything human that he could be angry about or argue about with her at all. In the end it had been simple curiosity and the naivety that came with experiencing modern society after being asleep for the past few millennia. Like Willow, Void was smart as hell about scientific things but give them something a little more… intimate… and they were clueless until you explained things to them. Somehow, though, he doubted that Void would go tomato red once he explained to her the discomfort and awkwardness he was feeling right now in relation to the adult videos she had watched. The best he could do was try and persuade her to look at more **scientific** and **academic** sources rather than the stuff a person could find on a pay-per-view. He just hoped he managed to do that before she asked too many uncomfortable questions or else it was going to be a loooonnngggg day.

"Xander have you ever engaged in sexual intercourse?" Void asked in a purely curious and scientific manner, "I would be very interested in hearing of your experiences."

_Yep. A **LONG** day!_ Xander thought as he tried to come up with some way of either deflecting his companion's question or changing the subject.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Two Days Later, Abandoned Warehouse, Morning_

"Uh, Zealot, I think you better take a look at this." Grifter said after re-checking the ad in the newspaper he had been reading.

"What is it, Cole?" Zealot asked in her usual cold warrior tone although he liked to think there was friendly familiarity in her voice.

"See for yourself." He replied as he marked the ad before passing the newspaper back to her.

He didn't need to see her to know what she was thinking because he was thinking the same thing but on a smaller scale. He'd been with her for almost six years now and she'd only given him bits and pieces of her past. She'd told him about the Daemonites and how she and a few other members of her race, the Kherubim, had been fighting those oversized bugs pretty much since man first started writing chicken scratch on stone. Once she'd told him about their comic book 'take over the world' scheme, he told her he'd help out. Their partnership wasn't Conan and Red Sonya, that was for sure when it started out. Hell, and even after six years she barely thought he had the chops to fight shoulder to shoulder with her! Still it was solid action with the occasional fringe benefit along the way so he couldn't complain. Much, that is. Plus he'd kinda taken it as a personal challenge to try and crack that Ice Queen thing she had going, so all in all it kept things interesting.

After a few minutes without so much as a peep from his partner he got up off the steel chair he'd been sitting off in their hideout to see what had her so quiet. When he had seen the ad, he'd initially dismissed it as nothing but when he had seen the line of Kherubim letters at the bottom, he'd known something was up. During the time that Zannah had been teaching him the fighting style of the Coda, she'd had to teach some of her language so he could read it. He was an amateur at best and certainly couldn't speak it worth a damn, but he'd been able to make out enough of the letters in the ad to know it was important. Looking at Zealot 'important' was obviously an understatement since she had a look on her face he'd seen only a handful of times and only when something big was about to go down.

"So what exactly is it? A message? A code?" He asked in a way to knock her out of the focused state she was in.

"It is a password used on the Kherubim cruiser I served on before it crashed to Earth millennia ago." Zealot replied with a hint of disbelief and suspicion in her voice, "It was used by the ship's A.I, Void, when sending encrypted messages to the home world so that they would know it came from her."

"So this ad is from her then?" He asked growing more interested in his discovery since it might lead to learning more about his partner's past.

"Unlikely. After the crew crash landed on Earth numerous attempts were made to locate the ship so that materials and supplies could be salvaged from it. All ended in failure." Zealot replied explaining how unlikely it was that the ad had been posted by Void, "Over the passing centuries there have been a few who have made additional attempts but the majority of the crew and command staff consider the Pantheon lost."

"So if it's not from here then who'd know the password?" He asked as he began to get a little suspicious of the ad himself now that he had some background to work with.

From the way Zealot was laying it out, better men and women than most had been hunting for their ship off an' on since they got stranded on this mudball called Earth and all they had to show for it was a whole lotta nada. That meant that either another member of the crew that had survived the crash was somehow using the password to make contact with them or maybe the bug faces just got lucky and this was the bait for a trap. Seemed a pretty crazy situation one way or another but knowing Zealot as he did she'd want to at least check things out and see what's what. Guess that meant he'd have to start checking their weapon caches and maybe pay a visit to old Frank's place to pick up a few more 'exotic' toys just in case things really got hairy. If this really did turn out to be a trap set by the Daemonites he and Zannah would turn it on its ear and make it their trap.

"That is what I intend to find out." Zealot replied in an icy tone as she took the newspaper and headed for the side door of the warehouse presumably to find a payphone.

_Oh yeah! The Bug Faces are gonna be wet green chunks if this is turns out to be a trap!_ Grifter thought as he sat back down in the steel chair and began planning his own designs of destruction if things turned nasty.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Powers Enterprises Safe House, Later in the Day_

_I knew Lord Helspont would be displeased with the damage that Kherubim witch and her human friend did to our operations but I never thought he'd send **HER**!_ Thought the head of Powers Enterprises R&D division as he nervously snuck glances at the door on the other side of the room.

It had been ten years since his Lord had assigned him and a small cadre of Daemonite warriors to establish a company to be both a legal means of earning profit and developing weapons for the war effort but in that time things had been most promising. Prior to the assassination of the ruling board of Powers Enterprises, they had been considered one of the most powerful up and coming companies in America. It had even been said that in time they would be able to launch hostile takeovers of such established companies as Wayne Enterprises with ease. Such progress had greatly pleased Lord Helspont, although it took a trained eye to 'read between the lines' of his Lord's messages and communiqués. To an untrained reader it would seem like nothing more than a sterile list of orders and comments concerning various projects, but he had known better. A word here, a phrase there, taken in the proper context could tell one much about the mood and mindset of the sender. So with the true meaning behind his Lord's words, he knew that he and his comrades were quickly rising in favor. However circumstances had changed drastically in the last week or so and he now wondered if his existence might soon be brought to an end.

It had been a little over a week ago that the first assassination had taken place in which the elder among the cadre sent to found the company had been killed in a most thorough manner. It hadn't been until the third murder that chance had taken pity on them and a security camera managed to catch a glimpse of the ones responsible. Immediately their faces had been run through the Daemonite database and less than a minute later the identities of the assassins had been displayed. Security around the remaining members of the board had been raised dramatically after that but the matter was still handled in-house rather than involve the human authorities. While the assistance might have proven useful, it was judged by the member of the cadre with the highest rank at that point that it would be too dangerous and would risk exposing some of their top projects to the humans. Needless to say when the internal organs of that member wound up decorating the office in his home, calls were immediately made to the local and federal human authorities.

Unfortunately though, despite the additional security and investigative muscle provided by the humans, the assassinations had continued until only a third of the ruling board of Powers Enterprises was still alive. The remaining board members and he had been trying to devise a way to terminate the Coda wench and her pet as well as salvage Powers Enterprises when **SHE** had walked in the door. Glorificus, or Glory as she preferred to be called, one of Lord Helspont's most ruthless and deadly enforcers known to all Daemonites on Earth. Rumors of the horrific acts she had committed actually **paled** in comparison to the truth recorded in the official reports. Her reputation among lesser Daemonites was that if she paid you a visit then your death was at hand and the best you could hope for was for her to be impatient when she killed you. That was because if she was allowed to take her time it could very well take weeks before she finally allowed you to expire. The only faint hope that he had was that Glory was apparently looking for something and needed him alive in order to use some of the reconnaissance technology that he'd invented. If chance chose to side with him in this dilemma perhaps she would be so pleased with the results that she would spare him. The others would likely perish but he didn't really care so long as he survived.

The door then opened with surprising casualness considering that **she** had been the one to open it. Dressed in a crimson female business suit with loose pants and a blazer that showed off some of her host body's cleavage was Glory. Judging by the pleased grin on her face he felt safe in assuming that his death was not mere minutes from coming to pass and that maybe, just maybe, he would survive this encounter with her unscathed.

"Looks like I have to commend you, Doc, on your info gathering invention." Glory said in a way more common to the humans than to a proper Daemontie, "Not three days in town and already we know when and where my prey is going to be as well as that Kherubim wench and her human friend. I already have my forces getting into position around the fools' meeting site with a containment tube for Ms. Computo less than two hundred meters away."

He could barely conceal his elation at this news and his hope of surviving the punishment that was sure to befall his comrades doubled in size.

"However just to ensure that things go my way, you and your cadre are going to give us the exo-suits you've been developing." Glory said in a way that told him she wasn't so much ordering as demanding his compliance.

"B-but they aren't ready yet! I m-mean, we haven't managed to eliminate the flaw in the neural interface, all our test subjects became mentally disabled a little over an hour after reaching full power." He exclaimed before trying to calm down and plead his case in a more rational manner.

"It won't take more than half that amount of time to finish them off." Glory said with a dismissive wave as though the mission was barely a challenge, "It'll only be that Coda witch and her pet that we'll have to worry about. Void in her present condition should barely be able move around and that human that helped her escape just got lucky at the dig site. Twenty minutes is all it'll take to finish this and then I'll be on my way back to Lord Helspont with the prize and there'll be one less Kherubim on this planet."

With that she turned and began walking back to the same door she had entered from and he felt the worry that had been running through him evaporate with every step.

Then she turned and face him with cold eyes tainted with madness.

"Keep in mind though, doctor, that if those exo-suits don't perform as advertised I will be back to air my grievances." Glory said meaning every word both spoken as well as the subtle message conveyed within them.

With those words his worrying and concern over his continued existence returned in full force leaving him to begin considering desertion.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**Approaching the Construction Site for a new Office Building,**_

_ Outskirts of Salt Lake City, Mid-Evening_

_Here's hoping the meeting goes better than the phone call did._ Xander thought as he walked down the road to the entrance of the construction site.

It had been a little before noon that the prepaid cell phone he had gotten the day before started to ring leaving him a little surprised considering he had bought it specifically for the mission of finding Void's crewmates. Aside from the ad they had put in the newspapers, no one else had the number. When he had answered the phone he had expected it to be a wrong number or some innocent citizen who had taken the ad at face value that he would have to politely turn down. Instead he got a very cold, professional sounding businesswoman's voice that obviously thought pleasantries and small talk were a waste of time since she cut right to the chase and demanded to know how he'd gotten the password. He'd given her the honest truth but she quickly fired back with how it was impossible that he had gotten the password from Void and repeated her question but this time with a tone that promised a painful death if he didn't come clean immediately.

_Man that woman can come up with some inventive ways of saying she's gonna kill you!_ He thought as he and Void reached the entrance and stopped for a moment to look around.

"Your eyes picking up anything?" He asked as his own came up with a fat load of nothing of a suspicious nature.

"Due to the fact that I don't have a power supply big enough to fully energize me, I can't use my abilities to the fullest." Void replied with a much more human sounding manner of speaking, "However, I don't believe we should be worried. Voice print analysis of the woman who called us earlier matches what I have on record for Zannah of Khera. Do you believe it was a deception?"

"It just seems a little off that we'd get a nibble from our ad so soon." Xander replied as he concluded his surveying of the construction site, "Plus I've seen enough movies to know that a person's voice can be faked with the right tech hooked together."

"Perhaps but I detected no artificial traces in her voice patterns or other means of mimicking Zealot's voice in the phone call." Void said as they proceeded to the center of the site that had been designated as the meeting place, "Also she spoke the language of the Kherubim and knew several other passwords that only Zannah would know."

"So that's what that gibberish was when I handed the phone to you." Xander said as he remembered when Zealot's temper had sounded particularly bad and he had passed the phone to Void in the hopes that she'd be more convincing than he'd been.

The conversation had started out in English but Void had quickly switched from her human voice to the five-in-one version in order to provide further proof of her identity. After that though the lady of computations had shifted into another language that he couldn't make heads or tails of and made his head ache worse than it had during French class back in high school. It had only gone on for a few minutes but by the end of the phone call they had both a time and a place where Zealot was willing to meet them. From what he could see of the area around him the location was ideal both for a meeting and an ambush, depending on what the person who designated the place wanted. It was far enough from the city that they could be sure the meeting would be private but there was enough machinery and half built buildings for some excellent hiding spots. Still he trusted Void when she said she was sure that it had been Zealot on the other end of the cell phone so he'd play along for the time being.

Once the two of them reached the meeting spot both of them began to look around for a sign of the other party's presence. Not an easy thing to do considering the time of day it was and the location but added with how good this Zannah was supposed to be and he doubted they see anything the warrior woman didn't want them to see. Minutes ticked by and there was no sign of movement or anything and he began to wonder if something had gone wrong.

"Perhaps they are waiting for me to reveal my true form as the final bit of proof that I am who I said I was." Void suggested as she dropped her holo-disguise and assumed her floating silver coated female form.

Less than a second later the situation went from wrong to completely F.U.B.A.R.

As soon as Void finished dropped her holo-disguise a crimson energy beam shot out from the darkness dropping her to the ground like a helluva right hook to the jaw. Reacting more on instinct than anything he scooped her up in his arms as quickly as he could and slid behind a stack of I beams that hopefully would keep the shooter from getting a second shot in. In silence he waited, listening as best he could for any suspicious sounds, but there wasn't so much as a peep coming from any direction. Just the usual sounds of pieces of a construction site being blow around by the evening wind. Looking over at Void he could see she was still 'conscious' metaphorically speaking but it looked like it would take her a couple of minutes to get all of her systems back online. Reaching into his jacket pocket he took out the Daemonite blaster he had stolen from the dig site in Nevada and prepared to hold off whoever had attacked them until Void was able to run.

With the conditions being what they were memories from the soldier he had dressed up as for Halloween began to whisper in the back of his mind. The sloshing through the jungle with your comrades, the knowledge that death could come for you at any time, and the required ability to sleep lightly being ingrained into your very being. It was not the most comfortable of feelings and right at that moment he was experiencing it in spades as his mind was going a hundred miles an hour trying to figure a way out. Unfortunately the lack of intel or a half decent idea of the layout of the construction site not only left him ignorant to the number of hostiles but also to the number of exits. It was just as he was preparing to fire off a few shots from the blaster he had 'borrowed' from the Daemonite guard that he heard the sound of footsteps heading in his direction from the far side of the site. Keeping the weapon at the ready he gradually peeked his head over the top of the stack of metal beams and looked to see who was approaching.

It was a woman, fairly tall, with short blonde hair and a figure that could easily get her a spot on the cover of FHM if she gave them a call. She was dressed in a crimson women's business suit but if he was seeing things right the outfit had been modified to allow for full range of motion without the risk of tearing something by accident. Not exactly comforting information but given that he didn't see an energy weapon in her hand that meant that there had to be at least one other hostile besides her in the area. Of course he knew there was likely more than that but he was trying to stay optimistic and thinking up worse case scenarios would only be depressing.

"I know you're there human so I'll make this short." Said the woman in the business suit with some impatience mixed in, "You're completely surrounded and the one method you had of escaping has been neutralized. Hand over the Kherubim computer core and I **might** consider letting you walk out of here alive."

_Yeah RIGHT! I bet she also has a bridge in San Fran to sell me too!_ He thought as he tried to pick out any advancing baddies amidst the objects in the construction site, _There's no way that this bitch is gonna let me just waltz out of here once she has Void. So I better come up with a plan B and quick!_

Looking around the site in the direction the blonde bimbo was coming from he tried to see if there was anything he could use to hurt her. After all depending on what type of minions she had they might all flock to her in a hurry if she was hurt and that would give him a chance to amscray with Void. It took three passes but then he saw something that made him smile a shark's smile and duck back behind the stack of beams for a moment. Right in the bottle blonde's path was a forklift. Attached to the back of that forklift was a tank of what he presumed was either gas or compressed air. Personally he didn't care if it was filled with one or the other since both would produce the same effect when he pierced the tank with the blaster. He just had to wait a little longer for her to come within the blast radius and then it would be fireworks time.

"Look human! I haven't got all night!" Blondie said with growing irritation as she continued to walk towards her target, "If you don't hand over Void right now I'll personally ram one of those metal beams **right up your ass!**"

"You want my answer you ditzy blonde?" Xander yelled as he shot up from his cover, "Well HERE IT IS!"

With nothing more to be said he took aim and fired the blaster at the tank and watched with satisfaction as it exploded released a cloud of flame that engulfed his adversary and likely pelted her with shrapnel at the same time. Being safely out of the blast radius he was able to watch the whole thing and he had to admit that it was most satisfying to see a baddie go boom right in front of you. However as he turned to pick up Void and make a run for it he noticed two very troublesome things: a) he didn't hear so much as a single minion run to their mistress' aid and b) he heard the sound of something female cursing up a storm from the direction of the blast. Turning his head he watched in complete shock as the blonde bimbo emerged from the fire completely unscathed aside from her clothes being a torn and charred mess. The fact that she looked completely **pissed** did not make him optimistic about what was going to happen next.

"That **is IT!** I tried to show you some mercy you miserable little mammal but after doing **this** to me all deals are **OFF!**" Ms. Blondie bellowed looking ready to tear him several new ones, "Do you have any idea how much this suit **cost?**"

"You're a Daemonite, you're about to kidnap Void for unspeakable torture as well as kill me, and you're worried about **clothes!**" he asked in disbelief as this was not what he had been expecting.

"Hey, when you're stuck on a miserable planet like this your priorities adjust a little." She replied as she tore off a sleeve that was handing on by a thread or two, "Not that you'll have many priorities where you're going. Dockwell!"

Xander barely had time to react and even as he managed to twist out of the way of an instant kill shot the energy blast from 'Dockwell' still managed to punch a ping-pong ball sized hole through his shoulder. The shock of the injury caused him to go completely limp and he fell to the ground in a heap as he tried to push the pain aside. He couldn't black out now! Void was a sitting duck and without him to help her she'd be back in ol' propane puss' clutches inside of a day. With one arm limp at his side he forced the rest of his body to move as he tried to push himself onto his hand and knees. If he made it that far he'd try and manage kneeling and then hopefully standing if lady luck chose to smile on him. However when he managed the first stage of his plan he was kept from patting himself on the back when out of nowhere something strong slammed into his gut and sent him flying through the air. He landed hard in a pile of freshly dug dirt that the work crew must have shoveled up earlier in the day and that was likely the only reason he was still conscious.

_Given the pain I'm feeling right now I'm not sure I can count that as a good thing!_ Xander thought as he fought both to get his lungs working again and keep the pain from knocking him out.

"Hmph! Not nearly as skilled as I had thought he'd be. What a waste of my time!" the blonde ditz growled clearly expecting him to put up more of a fight, "Dockwell get the containment tube over here now! I want this hunk of Kherubim trash in its cage **now**!"

_N-no! H-have to save… Void!_ Xander thought as he tried to force the pain away and will his body to get up.

However no matter how hard he willed it his body would not respond to his commands. The most it would do is shake with weakness and show him with heightened pain that he was in no shape to do anything but lye there. This meant nothing to him as be firmly believed in the concept of mind over matter and the power of the human spirit. With enough determination and dedication anything was possible! So with that in mind he doubled his efforts to get moving and actually managed to roll himself onto his stomach. Looking up while blinking away the tears of pain his injuries were causing his eyes to shed he saw a tube almost identical to the one that he had freed Void from days earlier. He knew that while it likely wouldn't damage her permanently it would cause the sentient computer core significant pain or the equivalent of pain for someone like her. He **could not** let that happen! Willing his uninjured arm to move he tried to use it to push himself up, to start the process of getting to his feet all over again, but a sharp pain streaked through it letting him know that while it may not be broken it was very close.

_DAMN IT! It can't **end** this way! I WON'T LET IT!_ He thought with anger building up with him to critical levels.

As he watched the minions of the Daemonite ditz circle around Void green rays of light began to grow from the edges of his vision. He didn't care though and as the light began to obscure his vision there were only two things that mattered to him. Rescuing Void and delivering some **serious** payback on the Daemonites for the pain they had given him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Same Place, Ten Seconds Later_

The only warning they had was the sound of powerful lungs taking a deep breath and then all they could do was stare at the jade behemoth that had appeared out of nowhere. To say that the minions were surprised would have been an understatement but in the case of Glory, she actually seemed pleased by the unexpected guest. A grin spread across her face that told of a lust for battle that had just been aroused and even though her prey was within her grasp it could wait until she had her fun.

"So it looks like the human had some power in him after all." Glory said clearly eager to get the party started, "Guess he just needed the right motivation to bring it out. What do you say Big Green? Wanna play?"

"Ditz and bug faces leave Void alone! Go away or Hulk SMASH!" Hulk yelled as the impressive muscles on his body tensed and his leaf green eyes smouldered with rage.

The big green man should have paid a **little** closer attention to his choice of words because the moment he gave Glory the moniker 'Ditz' he set in stone the fact that there would be a fight. There were a great many things that could set her off and those that did make her that mad generally never made that mistake again on account of being dead soon after. One of the top three things that pissed her off was saying she was stupid just because of the host body she was forced to inhabit while on this miserable planet. It wasn't like she wanted to be in the filthy pink-fleshed body and she certainly didn't like the assumptions that people made of her because of it. The only benefit of this host body was that it made human males extremely susceptible to suggestions when she wore the minimum amount of clothing necessary to cover the sexual organs. To have some nobody little human call her a 'ditz' like that just because he put on some showy muscle was intolerable.

"You're the one whose gonna get smashed, you jade oaf!" Glory yelled as she charged towards him so fast so as to be a blur to all but the sharpest of eyes.

With movement just as quick she delivered a punch that had half of her full strength behind it and hit him right in the abdomen. It was then that felt the first stirrings of doubt that she'd be able to make such quick work of her muscled adversary. In the past a blow such as that would have created a fist-sized hole in a vault door and in a person it would have torn them in half. For the Hulk, though, all it did was make him grunt a little bit and take a single step backwards. Not exactly the response she had been expecting. Then, with a speed that surprised her, he grabbed her body with one hand and threw her with the speed of a cannonball into the side of a cement truck. A humanoid impression was left in the tank of the truck and as she pulled herself out of it, she had only a moment to catch the sound of thunderous footsteps before looking up and seeing the Hulk charging her. With a tackle that would have sacked an eighteen-wheeler he slammed into her and the two of them tore through the cement truck like it had been made out of wet tissue paper. The impact on the ground was just as powerful as it dug a light trench in the ground eight feet long before their momentum was spent.

"Puny Ditz all talk!" Hulk roared as he raised his right fist high in order to deliver a hammer blow.

He never got the chance though as Glory slammed a punch right into his jaw with her **full** strength behind it and that was enough to knock the Hulk back a couple of feet. It would be the first of a number of blows because now Glorificus was **PISSED** like she had been only a handful of times before. It had been bad enough when this brute had insulted her intelligence but now he thought he could dominate her in battle like she was **nothing!** **She** would **kill him** SLOWLY!

With a roar of anger she charged him like a being possessed raining down blows on him one after another intent on breaking some ribs in the next few minutes. Again and again she hit him and each time managed to force him back a few steps with every blow. The problem was she couldn't tell whether or not she had done any damage of the sort she desired. It was with some surprise when one of her punches stopped about five inches short of its destination but when she looked to see what was the problem she found her fist enveloped in a much larger green one. That was all fate would allow her to comprehend before she was yanked over the behemoth's head and slammed into the ground with enough force to leave a small crater in it.

That was not the end though.

Five times in a row, that was how many times the Hulk pulled her by the arm and slammed her into the ground with each attack being of equal or greater power. When she thought that he might add a sixth attack he surprised her again by throwing her back the way they had come to land at the feet of her minions. Looking at them one could easily see the fear on their faces since they could scarcely believe what they had just seen. Up until the fight had begun they had believed Glorificus to be second in power only to Lord Helspont himself. To find an unknown giant with strength that seemed to surpass Glory's was incomprehensible to them.

"Don't just stand there you weak little yearlings! Attack! Destroy him!" Glory bellowed as she rose to her feet with a little wobble in her movements, "Destroy him or I kill you right now!"

Between an immediate death at Glory's hands now or a possible death at the hands of the self-identified Hulk the minions almost hesitated but in the end they obeyed their mistress' commands and opened fire with their blasters. Less then ten seconds later they were joined by weapons from the remaining Daemonite warriors that had been disperse throughout the contruction site. With firepower enough to decimate a regiment of soldiers they attacked the jade giant and for a while it seemed as though they might be winning. The Hulk was protecting his face with his arms and was trying to get away from their attacks and that meant to them that they were slowly but surely defeating him. Sadly these human possessing aliens were about to be the first beings to learn an important rule when dealing with the force of nature called the Hulk.

The angrier the Hulk, got the stronger the Hulk got.

With a bellow of rage that echoed through the area the green behemoth hopped fifty yards to the side of a bulldozer and, once his monstrous hands clamped onto its sides, he lifted it clear off the ground and heaved it at the biggest concentration of enemies he could see. Some were able to scatter in time to avoid the flying object but a handful had been so shocked that by the time they regained their senses it was too late to do anything but kiss their butts goodbye. Roaring with rage the Hulk let them know that the devastation had only begun. However just as he was about to find something else to throw at them he was hit from behind with tremendous force and a part of him was feeling a definite case of déjà vu. It took going through three piles of heavy building materials and finally a thick metal support beam to stop the Hulk's flight but eventually he did stop. It took a single shake of the head for the angry jade giant to regain his senses and when he looked back the way he had come to see what it was what had hit him he saw a group of people dressed like the ones that he had smashed in Las Vegas. There were six of them in all: three guys in capes, two women in the air and one woman on the ground with primal power coursing through her body. If he could access the memories of the part of him that was Xander Harris he could easily have identified them. Superman, The Martian Man Hunter, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Vixen were arrayed out before him with not one looking happy.

"This is the only warning you're going to get Hulk." Superman said with the utmost seriousness in his voice, "Surrender."

"Stupid cape man! Hulk not surrender!" Hulk declared angrily as he got to his feet, "**HULK SMASH!**"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


	5. Smackdowns and Surprises

_At the Entrance to the Construction Site Outside of Salt Lake City, One Minute Later_

"Ouch! That had to hurt," Grifter said as he watched the Man of Steel send a thunderous right hook to the jaw of the giant that the kid with Void had turned into.

Not that he was particularly worried about the kid being beaten by that one hit, but it did bring home the fact that stepping into the construction site at this point would be insanely dangerous. Unfortunately for him, Zealot wouldn't listen to any of his suggestions about waiting until the fight had at least been taken elsewhere before moving in. The moment she had seen the teenage girl turn into this liquid silver lady, he knew that all other things had been put on the back burner. The two of them had arrived at the designated meeting place a full half hour early in order to set up a surveillance post across the street. The plan had been to wait there until the other two guests of the little get together arrived and then watch them in order to determine their intentions as well as authenticity. Even after the exchange of what he assumed were passwords and countersigns over the phone, the co-founding member of the Coda had still been suspicious and insisted that they take every precaution. So, after thirty minutes of checking and rechecking his weapons, the guests of honor finally arrived but they certainly hadn't been what he'd been expecting. However when the transformed lady had been shot and Daemonite flunkies started crawling out of every hole and rock and in the area, the evidence was good enough for him. If the bug faces wanted it, then that was good enough reason for him to step in and make sure they didn't get it. So without further delay both he and Zannah had started to make their way to the construction site to join in the fun.

_Too bad the good stuff happened before we could get there._ He thought as he watched the green giant swing an I beam like a baseball bat and knock Blue Boy into a storage shed and out the other side.

He and his partner had been about half way to the entrance when the boy had somehow pulled off one helluva transformation from your typical high school kid to a mountain of muscle that intimidated on looks alone. From there things had gone from bad to worse to downright depressing since, first, even more bug faces came out of the woodwork then, secondly, the big man calling himself Hulk like a caveman started tossing things around with no regard for the objects possibly hitting Void. However things got really bad when in a flash of light six members of the superhero team called the Justice League showed up looking to join in on the fun. That, of course, brought him to where things were now and that was one big cluster fuck of a situation that looked like it would only get worse before eventually getting better. For one thing, while the Leaguers hadn't been so completely dense as to allow the Daemonites to walk off with Void, they also weren't enough to do more than slow them down. That of course was because the majority of their more powerful members were focused on the Hulk and that meant that the idiots were fighting a battle on two fronts.

Never a good thing to do.

As for the Hulk, well, he was just getting more and more pissed as time went on, he was acting like he'd completely forgotten about his initial objective of rescuing Void and now just wanted to pound the spandex crew into the ground. 'Course he seemed to be getting stronger and, if allowed a couple more minutes, he might be able to finish of the hero team in time to squash the Daemonites, but the odds weren't good. All in all, though, he was amazed at the titan of power that the kid had turned into because every time it looked like he'd been put down for good the green goliath just got right back up. If possible, the Hulk fought harder each time he got back up and actually seemed to be getting stronger the angrier he got. If that was indeed the case, then there would soon be no one in the area stronger then him. That, of course, would be meaningless since it also meant that the big man would be nothing more than a raging muscle man without any brains whatsoever. Much like a weapon, it was only as good as the person using it and, while, the Hulk might be increasing in strength, he lacked the intellect to use it effectively. Zealot, of course, had probably already figured this out and that was the reason she'd been determined to move in and rescue Void no matter the danger.

_Oh well! At least I'll go out with a bang!_ He thought as he re-checked his guns and looked to his partner for the signal to dive into the battle.

The signal came less than three seconds later and, without delay, they both entered the construction site choosing targets in order of priority and necessity. The bug-faced grunts holding Void, of course, went first and then he focused as much of his firepower as he could on the lead hag. He knew his weapons weren't doing much more than annoying the witch but if it kept her from leaving then that was goon enough. Zealot, on the other hand, was focused on closing the distance between herself and Void while cutting down anyone that got in her way. Needless to say old flame face would have to do some serious recruiting by the time this little scuffle was done. He and Zannah had gotten about two thirds of the way to their targets before the Justice League members noticed them and then compounded their stupidity by fighting a battle on three fronts. Now the battle was divided with Superman and the wing lady focusing on the Hulk, lightning lad and Wonder Babe dealing with the Daemonites, leaving jungle gal and Mr. Baldy to try and intercept the newcomers. Now while he wasn't impressed by the League's tactics, he knew that sooner or later they'd wise up and call in reinforcements, which meant he, Zealot, Void and hopefully the Hulk had to be gone by then. Popping out the normal power cells on his pistols, he slapped in some custom jobs he'd had made and started peppering the oncoming Leaguers with energy blasts. Of course none of the shots were lethal, but they would mess with any super powers the two might have by screwing up the nervous system temporarily. He hoped that if he hit them with enough shots they would be taken out of the fight quickly and make rescuing Void happen that much sooner.

"Identify yourselves!" Ordered the green man in a voice that was a mix of Spock of Vulcan and James Earl Jones.

"Sorry green guy, but I let my guns do most of my talking!" Grifter said in response as he focused all his fire on the green guy who was getting a little too close for comfort.

For a moment things seemed to be going in his favor but that came to an end when the jade sentinel stopped taking the hits and instead let them pass right through. Somehow the hero in the blue cape had gone intangible, making any physical attacks useless and energy based ones less than effective. Deciding that he'd turn this negative into a positive, he charged the green guy head on while continuing to lay down heavy fire. Just as he'd hoped the idiot was staying intangible, which meant that once he was in range he leapt forward and dove right through his opponent leaving a clear path to Void. Switching back to lethal ammunition, he began to pick off the Daemonites trying to cart Ms. Silver off and, for the most part, he was succeeding. However when the blonde bitch that had been fighting the Hulk earlier got in the way, his weapons became less than effective. Oh, he hit the mark but he might as well have been using a squirt gun for all the damage it was doing to the bimbo. Deciding that he didn't want any part of a Daemonite that could take a shot capable of putting a hole through tank armor, he waited until the last moment before firing two shots at the blonde's face then leaping over her. He had almost made it when he felt two hands clamp down on the bottom of his trench coat, but fortunately he had planned for such a possibility. Instead of bringing him to a screeching halt or throwing him anywhere like the bimbo had no doubt intended, the bottom foot of the coat tore off just like he'd intended.

_Now to get the hell out of here before lady luck decides to balance the scales! _He thought as he shot the last Daemonite and headed straight for Ms. Silver.

"Going somewhere, cowboy?" Asked the **absolute** corniest male voice he had ever heard moments before Cole Cash felt something tackle him from the side.

"Yeah but unfortunately, cornbread, they have a strict no cape policy!" Grifter said as he amped up his blasters to max discharge and fired both guns right into Lightning Lad's ears.

It had been a long shot, he had gambled that firing his weapons at full power at a tender spot would work on someone on Superman's level, but work it did as the man of muscle with mind of a kid immediately let go. Sadly, this did not do anything for the momentum already built up by the tackle, but at least now the former member of Team 7 would be able to do something about it. Reorienting himself so that his feet made contact with the ground, he let his inertia play out before getting a visual lock on Void again. Charging as fast as he could, he took only a moment to throw a flash/bang grenade in the Big Red Cheese in the hopes that it would keep the muscle man busy a few seconds longer. As he approached the Kherubim computer, he noticed that Zealot, somehow, was managing to keep not only Wonder Babe but also Jungle Gal busy with ease. Don't ask him how, though, since the power that the two Leaguers showed as well as skill was enough to earn his respect inside of five seconds. Still, as he closed to twenty-five yards from Void, he had to wonder where Mr. Blue'n'Green had gone to since the first encounter.

That question was promptly answered when a blue and green blur shot by in front of him and impacted into the corner of the framework of the new office building. It took him half a second to recognize Mr. Intangible and another half a second to figure out what had happened to him. Looking in the opposite direction, he quickly spotted an angry and quickly-approaching blonde bimbo that had been reduced to her bra and panties by the battle. Being male, he took a moment to appreciate the fine figure of the woman the bug face had chosen to inhabit before returning his focus to task at hand. Not crazy about taking on someone capable of fighting it out with the Hulk, he decided to free up some reinforcements by switching his weapons to heavy concussive blasts. Taking careful aim, knowing that he'd only get one chance at this, he fired two precise shots at two different targets. The shot from his left hand went right into the lower back of Jungle Gal hoping it would allow Zealot to finish off Wonder Babe quickly. Sure, the Coda would probably be pissed that he'd gotten involved in **her** battles but, quite frankly, he preferred having to listen to her gripe later than have to deal with the Queen Bug Bitch all by himself. The shot from his right hand though went and tagged one of the wings of Hawkgirl, causing her to drop from the sky with the added bonus of getting Superman to go to her rescue.

_Looks like I'm not out of luck just yet!_ He thought as managed to evade a punch from Ms. Goldylocks and fire a stun shot into her armpit.

The fact that a freight train called the Hulk slammed into the blonde bitch a moment later cemented this sentiment for him.

Finally managing to reach Void, he gave her a quick once over (not for the reason you might think) before concluding that she was going to be alright so long as they all got out of here before their collective good luck ran out. After all, he figured they had four minutes before what was left of the Daemonite forces got taken down by either him, Zealot or the Justice League and then it would be three on six. Granted the Hulk could probably handle three of them all by himself but taking down the Justice League wasn't the objective of the mission. The mission was to get Void and the Hulk out of here to someplace safe and that meant leaving sooner rather than later.

"Zealot! I've got Void! Time to get the **HELL** out of here!" He yelled as he began to lay down some fire to keep back the members of the League he thought he could handle.

"NOT GOING TO HAPPEN HUMAN!!" Yelled the bimbo after somehow managing to knock the Hulk backwards, "Dockwell! Call in the exo-suits NOW!"

"At once, commander!" declared Daockwell before he activated what must have been some kind of signal beacon in his belt.

That was when things went straight to hell.

With all the power of an eight on the Richter scale, the ground beneath the construction site began to shake causing everyone, including the green behemoth known as the Hulk, to stop what they were doing and wonder what the **HELL** was going on. They got their answer five seconds later when out of the ground came six giant robots that looked like they were armed with **EVERY** weapon from **EVERY** third world country. Now they weren't exactly Sentinel big, being about fifteen feet tall each, but they were of such a size that even the Hulk needed to look up to see their heads. Mentally cursing in just about every language he knew plus a few words he'd heard Zealot use when things went south on them, he wondered how in the hell they were going to survive **THIS!**

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Five Seconds Later, Void's Point of View_

System repairs complete

Initiating reboot of primary systems

Activating

With that final command the artificial life form and computer core for the Kherubim ship that crashed to Earth millennia ago regained her computerized version of consciousness. With a crackle of energy her visual and auditory sensors came online with her motor control systems coming back as well, albeit sluggishly. It was then that she found out that she was being held by someone and upon investigation found it to be a man matching the description of Lieutenant Commander Zealot's partner, Grifter. Curious as to what had happened since she had been attacked by the unknown attack after she and Xander arrived at the construction sight, she struggled to sit up to look around.

"Easy there, Void." Grifter said as he helped her sit up and supported her a bit, "I may not know jack about Kherubim tech but I'm willing to bet that it's not good for you to push yourself too hard just yet."

"While I appreciate your concern Grifter, partner of Zealot, my systems are fine." She said as she began to take in the scene around her, "All I am lacking at the moment is sufficient energy and that can be remedied with access to the city's local power grid."

"Welllll… that might be a little harder to come by than you might think." Grifter said as he pointed in a direction to her right.

"I see what you mean." She said with a trace of awe present despite her five-in-one-but-out-of-sync voice.

All around her a battle was raging and it was one that looked like it might very well decimate the entire area or even spill into the city if it went on too long. Some of the combatants she could recognize such as Zealot and Daemonite agents but others were people she only vaguely recognized from watching television or reading a newspaper. The ones she had the hardest time identifying were the six battle robots that were currently cutting down everything in sight and the green giant of a man that was displaying strength she had only seen in Commander Majestros. Whatever the situation, was it was clear that remaining here any longer would be increasingly hazardous, which meant leaving was the top priority.

However when the thought of leaving came up her logical mind somehow came up with a concern about where Xander was and what his current condition was at the moment. Looking about the battlefield, she tried to locate him based on the bio-readings she had covertly taken of him and stored in her memory banks. However with all the energy and destruction being cast about, it was exceedingly difficult to get a clean scan of the area with any acceptable level of accuracy.

"Grifter? Where is the human that I came here with? Where is Xander Harris?" She asked as her motor functions returned enough that she was able to get to her feet.

"Um…I'm not sure how to tell you this Void but **that,**" Grifter replied pointing at the jade giant ripping a robot in two with his bare hands, "is Xander. We're not sure how he did it, but when it looked like the Daemonites were about to walk off with you he changed into Mr. Green Genes over there and started kicking some serious ass."

At first she didn't want to believe the gunslinger but just to be certain she fixed her sensors on the behemoth and did as deep a scan as she could manage with her current power levels. It wasn't until she initiated phase three scans that she found the first piece of information to support Grifter's claims. By the time she reached phase six scans, she was almost ready to believe him and by phase ten scans she had no choice but to believe him. It was almost too much to believe but the evidence did support it and, now that she took a moment to think, she had detected something unusual in Xander once before. It had been seconds after Xander had shattered the Daemonite containment tube in the Nevada desert. Just before she had advised him not to confront Helspont, her sensors had detected an unknown spike of energy in him that she could not identify. Afterwards she had disregarded it as being a malfunction or sensor distortion caused by the effects of the containment tube. However, in her current scans of the behemoth, she found the same energy but in much larger quantities so as to make what she sensed before look like a lit match before the sun. Still, her DNA scans of the green giant that was referring to itself as 'The Hulk' did bear a striking resemblance to Xander's genetic code but looked as though it had been enhanced many times over.

_Nevertheless I detect no lie in Grifter's claim and at the very least the Hulk's actions do indicate he is an ally. _She thought as she resumed her plan making for a swift getaway, _In any case it does not change the fact that we all must get away from here and the sooner the better. _

"Grifter. I require I power source of some kind." She said as she looked for any means of providing the energy she'd need to open a tele-portal, "If I can absorb sufficient energy, I may be able to get all of us away from here."

Almost as though the gods themselves had chosen to answer her one of the heavily armed robots fell to the ground nearby and a crackling power cord of some kind was jarred loose from its arm casing. With but a look she knew the Grifter had seen it too and knew what she would ask of him. While he provided cover fire, she floated over to the robot as quickly and efficiently as she could before reaching out for the disconnected power cord. As soon as she made contact she knew the energy is compatible with her own systems and, without hesitation, she began to draw it in. With every second that passed, she became more and more energized by the power from the downed robot, system after system that had to be shut down to conserve energy was coming back online, until she felt confident that she could create a tele-portal large enough and long-distanced enough to serve their needs.

"I am ready." She said her energy filled eyes glowing brightly, "HULK! It's time to go!"

The green giant turned towards her at the sound of her voice and for a moment she could see Xander in the behemoth's brutish face. With a rough nod of agreement, the Hulk grabbed the Daemonite Glorificus by the head and threw her at the Justice League hard enough to knock both Wonder Woman and Vixen off their feet. Then, with a leap that was little more than a hop, he was beside both her and Grifter leaving only Zealot to join their group.

"Zealot! Th' train's leavin'!" Grifter bellowed to the Coda warrior who currently was just dancing with Captain Marvel by skillfully evading his attacks and cutting him up in retaliation.

For a moment it looked as though the warrior matriarch was ignoring her partner but with one well placed strike to a pressure point, she brought her enemy to his knees, allowing her to make her way over to them. However time was swiftly running out since, with one less enemy to fight, the League was making quick work of the armed robots and would soon be on them. Therefore once she was satisfied the Coda warrior was close enough, she immediately set about forming the portal. With calculations both for the mass about to pass through it as well as the destination she had in mind, she began to open a gateway through time and space. Before long a swirling vortex of energy stood before her and, as she had so many times before, she dove into it in order to secure the exit point on the other side.

Once at her destination point, she waited for her friends and crewmate to pass through and while it only took them a fifth of a second to appear it was enough for a being like her to worry a bit. However when the Hulk finally managed to pass through the event horizon and land on the ground with a thunderous thump, she allowed the tele-portal to disperse on its own since it could not naturally sustain itself without her involvement. With that task done she felt the onrush of fatigue well up within her but kept it from showing since she did not want to alarm anyone. Looking over at the Hulk, she could still see that he was still in an excited state from the battle and was having difficulty calming down. Oddly concerned by this, she floated over to him and, after setting down on the ground in front of him, she shifted into her human guise feeling that he would react better to her in this form.

"Easy! Calm down. The fight's over, big green." She said attempting to simulate a soothing a calming tone of voice, "Deep breaths now. It's over now."

Almost like magic she could see the tense muscles relax and the breathing begin to slow to a more casual pace commonly found in humans taking a peaceful stroll. Little by little, second by second, the fervor of battle seeped out of him and as it did a most interesting transformation took place. As the energy of battle began to disperse within him, the form of the Hulk began to shrink both in height and muscle mass. By the halfway point his skin began to change from jade green to a more human pink or tanned color while his hair became a familiar shade of brown. By the time that two minutes had passed, the being that stood before her was no longer the gigantic Hulk but merely Xander Harris of Sunnydale, California. Of course he didn't remain standing for very long since, the moment the reversion to normal completed itself, he passed out and was only saved from a painful impact on the ground by Void who caught him in her arms.

"Ya know if we weren't in the middle of nowhere and needin' a place to hide, this'd be pretty funny." Grifter said offhand as he took in the sight of a normal teenage girl holding up a guy whose stretched pants had dropped to the ground.

Thankfully Zealot's glare was enough chastisement to satisfy the sentient computer.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_An Off the Highway Motel, 6:00a.m_

Sunlight was the first thing to disturb the peaceful slumber of Xander Harris but if this had been all then he would have simply rolled over and gone back to sleep. After all he was no stranger to the rude awakening of the dawn but was fairly certain that he'd gotten into the practice of making sure that the blinds in his room were closed before jumping into bed. That one anomaly led to others coming to his attention such as unfamiliar bed sheets as well as unfamiliar sounds that he didn't recognize. Being the naturally curious person that he was, this brought him back to consciousness almost completely. It also brought a nasty headache along with a few other types of aches to the front of his mind making him wince as he opened his eyes. Once he'd adjusted to the amount of light his peepers were taking in, he was able to get a better grasp of where he was. It looked like your generic roadside motel complete with pay-per-view TV and outdated décor, kinda like the stuff robo-Ted had favored. Either the manager/owner of this place was a cheapskate or had an unhealthy fixation with the Sixties At the moment, though, the Xan-man wasn't sure which was preferable at the moment so he decided to shelve the entire thing.

Throwing the covers off, he tried to figure out how he'd gotten to a hotel and, naturally, began as most investigations began by trying to remember the last clear memory he had. He recalled going to meet a crew member from Void's ship at a construction site outside of town when the sentient computer had been hit by a laser beam of some kind. He remembered doing his best to protect his traveling companion but getting his butt kicked in the process and then… and then nothing before waking up here. It was definitely not the sort of thing he was comfortable with since it was eerily similar to how he'd woken up in the desert in Nevada prior to stumbling across the Daemonite dig operation. Looking down, he found himself thankfully wearing some sweat pants and, unlike before, they fit perfectly, which was a good thing since he didn't want to impersonate a tailor again in an effort to make them fit. Looking about the room he could see signs of there being at least one more person staying in the room with him if the rumpled sheets on the other single bed in the room was any indication.

_Probably Void._ He thought as he got to his feet and slowly made his way to the bathroom, _Must've somehow managed to pull a fast one on the bug faces and gotten us both out of there._

While he wasn't entirely sure how given how the laser blast had affected her back at the construction site. From what he could remember, she had been unconscious thanks to the blast and hadn't shown any signs of waking up any time soon. So either something else must have revived her or the usual bad guy cocky attitude must have saved his unlucky butt yet again. Whatever the case, he'd have to ask his lady friend where exactly she'd 'ported them to and how long it would take them to get back to Salt Lake City to pick up their meager possessions. That problem however could be tackled **after** he'd taken a shower and gotten something to eat. Grabbing the doorknob, he turned it and opened the door but instead of a vacant bathroom he beheld a site that left him slack jawed as well as stuck in a **very** happy place. Standing with a towel in hand was a woman he had never seen before but that instantly made just about every other babe he'd ever declared a hottie look like an overweight DMV person by comparison. Long white hair that looked especially lust worthy when wet and a body that probably didn't have any more than the bare minimum of fat on it necessary for bodily functions. Add to that the fact that she had a nice rack and it was perfectly understandable when he spoke the following words.

"Helllooooo **nurse!**"

Unfortunately had that turned out to be exactly the wrong thing to say because a look of slight annoyance appeared on her face that was probably unique to her alone. However, as he would later reflect, when looking at this particular woman one should always multiply the emotions seen on her face tenfold. Therefore if the white haired goddess looked only mildly annoyed to the naked eye it actually meant that she was seriously angry. He almost didn't see the signs in time but, when he saw her calmly as could be, take a towel and wrap it around herself and then pick up hairdryer, he knew something was up. In his mind the only sort of women that behaved this way were either a) women completely comfortable with walking around nude for all to see or b) women about to erupt with anger or violence. Sometimes both if one turned out to be extremely unlucky. Given that he was Alexander LaVelle Harris and personal whipping boy of dear old Mr. Murphy, he decided it would be the latter. That choice was probably all that saved him from blow number one when the snow haired Amazon lashed out with the hairdressing tool. Diving to the side, he managed to slide across the bed and once on the other side, chose to make a break for the door leading outside. After all while this crazy person might be willing to commit one act of homicide, he doubted very much that she'd go for multiple murders involving whomever happened to be outside this room. He was almost to the door when it opened to admit Void in her human guise and some scruffy looking blonde haired guy that was in bad need of a good shave. Seeing a safe haven close by, he zipped around behind Void, keeping her between himself and the towel clad madwoman brandishing a hairdryer.

"Xander? What's wrong?" She asked, clearly puzzled and doing a good job of mimicking the human teenage girl equivalent.

"Ms. Psycho is what's wrong!" He exclaimed as the woman with hair like snow made a few attempts to get at him before deciding that it would be better to wait for the proper chance to show itself.

"You mean Zealot?" Asked Void before turning to the white haired woman and asked, "What happened?"

"That young man **dared** to make a lewd comment about me." Zealot replied in a manner that implied doing so was on par with using the American Flag as toilet paper.

This of course brought all eyes back to him, making him feel decidedly uncomfortable since being the center of attention was not something he was used to.

"I didn't even know she was in there much less… you know…" Xander stated unable to say the last word for fear of making the crazy woman even angrier, "Besides, what the **hell** was she doing there with the door unlocked!?"

It was then that Mr. Stubble-face decided he couldn't hold in his amusement at the situation any longer and began chuckling for all to hear. The Key guy of the Sunnydale High School Graduation battle was relieved at this since it would keep Ms. Psycho, aka Zealot, from coming after him and might actually get her to forget about him altogether. Either that or she'd just wait until some other time to slap him around for looking at her while she was… in the nude… without her permission. Hopefully, though, he and Void would find the other members of her crew long before that happened and he could safely return to the normality of fighting vampires and saving the world once a year.

_I must be a poor deluded fool to think of stuff like that as normal._ He thought to himself as he watched Zealot give Mr. Stubble a glare that stopped his laughing in its tracks.

"What is it that you find so amusing, brother Grifter?" Zealot asked in a tone that spoke of much pain if the answer was not to her liking.

"Well, Zee, it was just, you know, amusing that Xander here woke up and the first person he saw was you in your birthday suit." Grifter replied trying to make it sound as though his reaction was not only logical but also expected.

The Look he got made it clear that his reply was not satisfactory.

"Well in any case Void and I got breakfast as well as a change of clothes for Xander so howsabout we eat first and then figure out what our next move is?" Grifter said attempting to change the subject before something painful happened, "After all it's not like we're going to be able to avoid the bug faces or the Justice League forever right?"

"The Justice League? How did they come into this?" He asked not knowing how they went from the Daemonites to one of Earth's premier superhero teams.

"They were at the construction site last night. Don't you remember kid?" Grifter asked sounding as surprised as the others looked for some reason.

"No. Last thing I remember was lying on my stomach with pain everywhere and the blonde bimbo ordering her goons to get a containment tube ready." Xander replied explaining his memories to them, "Then nothing until I woke up here with the sun in my eyes."

_Now that I think about it, shouldn't I be in some serious pain? _He thought to himself recalling how he'd felt before blacking out at the construction site.

Looking at the others, he could tell from the looks on their faces, well Grifter and Void's faces anyway, that they knew something and were debating with looks as to whether or not to tell him. This annoyed him since it was remarkably similar to how the gang had kept that one apocalypse from him the night he dealt with O'Toole at the school. He knew that he was new to Void but he'd thought that the loyalty and aide he'd given her since they met would be enough to get her to be honest with him. Fortunately he apparently had her read right because, with resolve on her face, she walked over to the lamp that was on the table between the two beds and yanked out its power cord. Clenching her right hand around the exposed wires of the cord, she stretched out her left hand and faced the open hand up to the ceiling. He wasn't sure what exactly she was doing, but he figured that it had to be something involving filling in the blanks concerning his black out period.

It was only when a field of energy began to take form above her open palm that he realized that he intended to show him exactly what it was he couldn't remember. It was rather distorted at the beginning but as the seconds ticked by it slowly gained resolution and definition. When it was clear enough to see something he could see that it was some kind of battle going on and judging by the colorful outfits being worn by the combatants he knew it had to the Justice League team Grifter had mentioned. There was one seriously big bruiser at the center of it all that he couldn't identify though since the color scheme of the guy didn't match anything he'd seen in the newspapers or on TV. It was only when the picture became crystal clear that the identity of the green and purple blob became clear.

It was none other than Xander Harris.

Oh there were some serious differences such as muscle mass, height, skin color and judging from the way the green titan was throwing down with Superman strength but the face was unmistakable. Even with the changes between normal Xander and this Xander he'd know his own face anywhere, but while his mind accepted this his heart was another matter. He just couldn't believe that the **monster** he was watching was connected to him in any way. The beast was an engine of destruction, a destroyer, and that was so far removed from how he saw himself that it was ludicrous to even attempt to connect the two.

"If this is some sort of joke, Void, I think you need to go back to the drawing board with your sense of humor." He said letting enough foul emotion into his voice to let her know he was **not** amused.

"She is not joking, Xander Harris. Grifter and I were across the street from the construction site when you and Void arrived." Zealot said being blunt and speaking in a tone that practically bellowed honesty, "We observed your efforts to protect her and we saw you transform into the green giant that called itself The Hulk."

"I know it ain't easy to accept kid, but it's the truth." Grifter declared putting in his own two cents.

"EASY!? Try impossible blondie! Look at that thing!" He exclaimed pointing to the hologram/image that Void was still projecting, "It's a monster! A destroyer! That's not who or what I am!"

Why were they persisting in supporting this atrocious lie?! Were they trying to manipulate him or something? No, that didn't make any sense at all to him. He was just plain old Xander Harris. There was nothing about him worthy such an effort. Maybe these weren't really Zealot and Grifter? After all, with all the time he spent with the gang researching, he knew that there were species of demon out there that could change their appearance. Then, of course, there was of course the Daemonites themselves with tech far ahead of anything he could comprehend. Again, he didn't think that was the case because if it was the Daemonites then they would have made off with Void while he was unconscious and as for the demons they would have killed him or, knowing his luck, used him as a sacrifice for one of their rituals. So why were they trying to convince him that this **lie** was in fact the truth!? Frustration began to build within him, frustration at being unable to discern the truth or the intentions of those before him, and as everyone knows frustration is often a precursor to anger. A part of him expected to start seeing red in his vision, but for some reason he got green instead but given the building frustration in him he wasn't really paying attention.

"Xander, please!" Void exclaimed as she terminated the projection and zipped through the air to his side, "Calm down! Please!"

Looking at her he was stunned out of his frustration by a look of genuine concern on her face and it was not one that he believed was mere mimicry. She really appeared to be concerned for him and was almost begging him to let go of the hostile feelings within him. He was not sure why it happened, but just seeing her like that shattered the frustration within him and like the passing headlights of a car at night his discontentment dispersed.

"I know you have no reason to trust the words of Grifter or Zealot yet. You have known them for less than an hour but you have traveled with me for much longer." She said imploring him to listen to reason as well as the honesty in her voice, "I say to you now that what you have been told is nothing but the truth however hard that might be for you to accept. I am a being of logic and reason, Xander, and so I have no motive to deceive you."

As much as his heart still rebelled against what he was being told he had no choice but to admit that Void had never, in all the time he'd known her, exhibited the capacity for deceit. Oh, she could withhold information or omit certain facts, but she had never outright lied to him or tried to trick him. It was one of the advantages of being an artificial life form and a computer core as well that she did not think in the same way as organic beings. However, with that in mind, he was forced to at least consider that he might indeed be that monster she'd shown him.

"H-how did I c-change?" He asked his emotions still at a level that his speech was less than smooth, "What caused it?"

"We don't know for certain. The first time we saw it happen we were too far away but seeing as how your eyes went all neon green there for a moment and that you changed back last night after calming down I'd say it has to do with emotions." Grifter replied answering the question in the best and non-offending way possible, "Anger probably."

"There is no 'probably' about it Grifter. When the Hulk fought the Justice League there was a look of rage on his face that it was clear that that emotion fueled his strength." Zealot said obviously deciding to disregard the 'bedside manner' her partner had chosen to use, "Anger most definitely plays a role in triggering his transformation."

It didn't take a genius to see that both Grifter and Void disapproved of the snow haired woman's blunt way of speaking, but at the same time they knew that the damage was done. Boy! Was it ever!

_So anytime I get mad enough, I change into that… that thing!_ He thought with despair as he began to understand the difficult journey ahead of him.

He knew that he was an emotional person at heart, that his emotions were what guided him in his decisions, and that sometimes those emotions were not the goofy pal type that the Scoobies back home knew about. Sometimes there was a level anger inside his heart, one that only came out when his light side could no longer hold it back, caused by wrongs he felt powerless to make right. The wrong of his abusive father hurting both him and his mother. The wrong of being unable to save Jesse from fate worse than death. Most of all though the wrong of lacking the power to protect his friends from the demons of the world. Except he had power now, didn't he? But what use was this power when he couldn't control it? It wasn't a gift but a curse, and one that he wanted nothing more than to be rid of.

Somehow he knew though that he'd never truly be rid of it.

Never.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


	6. The Searching Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrighted material contained herein. It is the rightful property of the creators and associated companies. I make no money off of them whatsoever. I write because I like writing fanfic and because other people like reading my stories.

Note: It's been a long time coming but I'm finally back to working on this fanfic. Sorry for the long wait but when you have a plot bunny breeding problem like I had coupled with the initial jazz that got me to write it (Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction videogame) wearing off a little quicker than usual I had to wait awhile before the creative juices started flowing again. Thankfully chatting with authors like HolyKnight and a few others gave me enough ideas to build off of that I could get going again. Hope you like the chapter!

* * *

_**One Week Later, Somewhere in Colorado, Noon, Cole Cash's P.O.V**_

"So how's the kid doing?" Cole asked as he walked out the back door of the safe house they'd been staying at for the past few days.

With the level of attention by the law enforcement and spandex community being a little high in Utah, the group had immediately hopped to the next state eastward in the hopes of throwing off pursuit. They'd done it the conventional way since no one wanted to do anything that might give the wrong people a little more to work with when it came to Voids vortexes. That was their ace in the hole, their trump card whenever they were backed into a corner and needed a way out and, the longer they could keep the details of it a secret, the better. Right now, though, they'd decided to stay indoors and keep a low profile but that didn't mean that they were just being a bunch of lazy bums. He was using his sources to figure out just what might come after them while Zealot was working with Xander to help the kid get a better grip on his anger. This was mostly at the kid's insistence since he didn't want to transform into the Hulk. In fact he'd say it was safe to say that Harris was borderline obsessed with finding a way to suppress his alter ego no matter what he had to do. Not that he could blame the kid, since he wouldn't want to turn into a massive engine of destruction every time he got more than a little hot under the color. Still, it was anyone's guess whether or not any amount of training would be able to keep a behemoth in check. Nevertheless some ability to keep it in check was better than none at all.

"His dedication to the meditation techniques is commendable." Zealot replied as the two of them looked at the young man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the backyard, "However his youth hinders him with the usual impatience. He does not realize that mastering the ancient meditative techniques of Khera takes time."

"Oh, he knows, but this Hulk think is like a dagger hanging over his head." He explained with a half smile of understanding, "It's making him twitchy."

"Perhaps. Nevertheless, he will have to get over it if he is to quicken his mastery of the techniques." Zealot conceded before looking away from the boy.

"Do you think they'll be able to keep the Hulk inside?" He asked, getting to the bones of the matter quickly.

"They have allowed even the fiercest of Kherabim warriors to keep their head in battle. At the very least it will keep the number of transformations to a minimum." Zealot replied with a moderate level of grimness, "When he succeeds in mastering all I have to teach him, it will only be during the moments of extreme emotional duress that we should see the Hulk reappear."

"I notice you didn't say 'if he succeeds in mastering all you have to teach him'. Are you that confident he'll pull it off?" he asked, wanting to know just how certain his partner was of success.

"I will make sure he succeeds," she replied with a finality that made it clear she was committed to seeing this through. "Have you learned anything of our pursuers?"

"Yeah. So far the big ones are the JLU, the Daemonites and General Ross' people, but that doesn't mean that others won't step up if results are slow in showing up." He replied a little discouraged by what he'd found out, "The heroes just think he's a rampaging monster that needs to be locked away, Ross probably wants him for the potential military applications and the Daemonites see the Hulk as a way to get to Void. For now, at least."

"For now?" Zannah asked with a raise of her white brow.

"C'mon, Zealot! You can't tell me you haven't thought about one of the bugs getting the idea of possessing Xander here," he said, pointing out a **very** scary possibility. "You put one of the smarter ones in there and match it up with the sort of power the Hulk showed off a week ago and yer lookin' at a seriously bad situation."

"Indeed." Was all he got for his statement but, then again, he never expected her to actually admit that she'd overlooked something.

She wouldn't be Zealot otherwise.

"The best way to fix this problem so we can get back to doing what we do best is figure out just what happened to this kid. Any ideas?" he asked even though he had a few theories of his own.

"Nothing certain. I have spoken with Alexander on the matter but he is… secretive about certain parts of the event in question. All he will tell me was that he was forced to aid a group of terrorists enter a military test sight for the purpose of disrupting a new nuclear weapon test." She replied, sounding like she despised nukes, "The countdown was started by accident and he attempted to use the nearby canyons to take the brunt of the blast but was caught up in it nevertheless. He lost consciousness and woke up in General Ross' base. He was interrogated and believes it was there that he first transformed into the Hulk since he blacked out there only to awaken in the middle of a desert somewhere else."

"You think he's keeping something from us?" he asked trying to figure out what that something might be.

"Yes. However I do not believe he is withholding this information because of some malicious intent." Zealot replied as she began to walk back towards the house, "He is protecting something or someone and does not trust us enough yet to tell us everything."

Made sense.

They'd been together for a little over a week and, while he'd done his best to buddy up to the kid, the Californian had kept his guard up for the most part. Oh, there were a few times he'd been able to trick the kid into saying something that shoulda stayed secret, but those moments were getting harder to come by. The kid was smarter than most his age but he wasn't about to leave the kid by his lonesome just yet because, if any of the groups he'd told Zealot about got ahold of the power of the Hulk, it could mean bad things for everyone. The JLU would likely be the best of the three but, still, that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing. Assuming they learned the truth about him, they'd try to help him, given how fanatical they were about being the heroes everyone thought they were. However his gut was telling him that what Xander was suffering from wasn't something that could be cured with a flick of a wrist or the injection of some chemical cocktail. It would take some major mojo or some serious egghead work of art and he doubted very much that they would be willing to let him roam around free while he was an emotional ticking time bomb. They'd likely lock him up or put him on permanent sedative drip until they found a cure. Oh, they'd probably act all regretful over it, but it would still mean the kid would have his freedom taken away.

Still, it was better than the Daemonites or Ross getting their hands on him because neither of those two would be all that concerned about helping the kid get rid of the Hulk for good. They'd both be drooling, in the bug faces' case, it'd be literal, at the possible combat applications it'd represent and would almost certainly want to figure out how to replicate the brute's abilities in others. For the Daemonties, that would mean that every last one of them, from their lowly human flunkies all the way up to probably Helspont himself, would get a massive power boost. Enough that he doubted that anyone short of Superman or someone as powerful as him would be able to stop the army of possessing aliens from stomping their way across the galaxy. As for Ross, he'd want the same thing, a way to duplicate the powers of the Hulk in multiple soldiers, but he'd want it out of some daydreaming version of patriotism and American pride. However he knew better than most that the American government and those in charge of its military would not stop at using their newfound weapons for defense or for doing 'good'. They'd use it to force the American way of life on the entire world and anyone who tried to get in their way would find an army of Hulk's wearing American combat fatigues on their doorstep within twenty-four hours.

_Not happening! I might want to piss on the graves of half the five star idiots at the Pentagon, but it'll be a cold day in hell when I let those bastards turn the U S of A into a military dictatorship!!_ He thought to himself with grim determination, _I'd die first._

With that in mind, he turned to head back into the house and send a few emails to some people he knew in the military that owed him some big favors. He'd heard something else while he was looking into the list of pursuers and hoped that it was more rumor than fact because if it turned out to be the latter it'd be one more thing to add to their problem plate.

Like they didn't have a full plate already!

* * *

_**JLU Embassy, Later That Day, Superman's P.O.V**_

"Any luck, Batman?" Superman asked as he entered the largest of the labs that were a part of every embassy on Earth.

While usually based out of Gotham and only visiting the embassies when some crisis required, the latest mystery to be dropped in their laps was one that demanded the talents of the world's greatest detective. Originally their problem had simply been to defeat and capture what most Leaguers considered to be either an out of control meta-human or some sort of laboratory-created monster. As such, investigations had begun to try and figure out where the Hulk came from since they couldn't figure out where it was right at that moment. They knew that Las Vegas had been the first place the League had encountered him and examination of the few intact security cameras in the area had given them a general direction as far as where he'd been before landing in the city. However the only thing that was in the direction the Hulk came from was a military base and, while they'd put in a request for information, the red tape was dragging things out. Even though they had done their best to earn back the public's trust after the defeat of the fusion of Luthor and Brainiac, there were still people in powerful places who didn't trust them. He knew it would take a long time but he was prepared to wait for as long as it took to restore what had been so badly shaken.

"Not as much as I'd hoped, so I called in for some specialists help." Batman replied without taking his eyes off of the screen of the computer he was working on.

"What do you mean?" he asked a little surprised that one of the founding members of the League was having difficulty with this latest case of his.

"I've been able to come up with some circumstantial evidence that might tell us who the Hulk is but it's far from positive." Bruce replied as he brought a picture up on the screen.

It was a picture of a dark haired young man who looked to be in his late teens and, off to the left of the picture, were some basic statistics. Alexander LaVelle Harris, age 18, born in Sunnydale, California and a recent graduate of Sunnydale High School. The information went on but there was nothing that indicated that the kid was anything but your typical Californian teenager.

_But if he was just another teenager, Bruce would have discounted him immediately as a suspect and moved on._ He thought as he waited for the caped crusader to explain everything.

"I managed to recover some torn clothing and hair samples from the construction site where the Hulk last showed up. At first I thought that it might belong to the people in the mech suits or the ones that escaped through the vortex." Batman explained as he brought up pictures of the torn fabric as well as the results of the analysis on each item, "However, when the DNA tests came up, there was nothing there to indicate anything out of the ordinary."

"Maybe this Harris kid was abducted by the people in the mech suits before we arrived?" he proposed as a possibility for what the detective had found.

"Possible but unlikely. Based on the analysis of the blood samples I found, among other things, Harris would have been there no more than five minutes prior to our arrival." Batman replied, shaking his head in the negative for a moment, "Considering what they were doing, I don't see how they could have safely made off with him and deal with the Hulk at the same time. Plus I found no tire treads or signs of an aircraft in the immediate area indicating they took him away before then.

"Using this as the starting point, I managed to uncover an ad in the local paper that actually had a hidden message in its border. To most people it would be nonsense but, thanks to J'onn, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern, I learned that it's actually an alien language." Bruce explained as he brought up the ad in question, "It's Kheran but it also appears to be in code."

"Can you crack it?" he asked wondering what the purpose could have been behind the hidden message.

"I don't need to. Considering what happened within a week of it being posted, it's clear it was to arrange a meeting. Though whether it was with those two mercenaries or the heavily armed thugs, I don't know," the Dark Knight said, bringing up the pictures of the platinum blonde woman and the crimson masked man. "I've inspected the remains of the mechs that we confiscated and traced them back to Powers Enterprises, however there's nothing in their records which indicates that they've been developing such machines."

"Secret project off the books?" he asked, since that was the only reason he could think of for the machines not being in the records Bruce had dug up.

"Most likely or else the company is a front for something else." Batman replied as he continued to work on the computer, "I've put in some inquiries but it'll be a while before I hear anything back from them. In any case, using the items in the shredded clothing, I was able to track Harris' movements back to a hotel in Nevada north of Las Vegas. It's not far from where Supergirl and the others fought the Hulk and, looking further, I managed to track the Hulk's arrival path into the city back to a military base run by one General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross. The General was clever about it but, for a few days prior to the Hulk arriving in Las Vegas, he made several inquiries about Harris and his associates."

"It makes sense since there isn't any other reason why a high ranking member of the military would be interested in a civilian to that degree." He said, agreeing with the trail of logic laid out by the detective as well as the surrounding facts, "It still doesn't concretely prove that Alexander Harris is the Hulk."

"No but it does give us a prime suspect. The proof will be coming from the specialists I've called in." Bruce said, turning to the entrance to the lab as the sound of the doors opening reached them both.

Walking in through the doors were none other than Dr. Fate, Jason Blood and Zatanna who, together, were the Justice League's go-to people when it came to matters of a supernatural nature. This made it clear that Batman believed that the Hulk was more supernatural or magical in origin and that these three would confirm his suspicions.

"You wanted to see us, Batman?" Zatanna asked with a friendly smile towards the person she knew was beneath the cowl.

"Yes. I need you three to examine these samples and tell me what you can about them." Bruce replied, gesturing to the table that held the blood samples and hair samples, "I believe they were taken from the Hulk when he was in his human form but I need confirmation."

"Sure thing." Stated the part time stage magician as the three mystics went over the table and began to employ their own means of examining the samples.

No one had to wait long before seeing the results as, within seconds of the magic words or mystic gestures being used, the samples began to glow with a neon green light before a magical shockwave knocked all three users away from the table and onto their backs. For a moment a pair of glowing female eyes hovered above the samples but then they vanished and the energy they'd been made up of slammed into the samples destroying them utterly. It took awhile for everyone to recover from the spectacle but, when they did, it was clear that Batman wanted answers.

"Any idea what that was about?" Bruce asked Zatanna as he helped her to her feet.

"Not for certain but I can tell you that whoever those samples from is under the protection of a high level deity or goddess." Zatanna replied, her metaphorical ears still ringing from the event, "She noticed us almost the second we started looking and did **not** like it one bit."

"Any idea who 'she' is?" asked the Dark Knight, who wanted more information.

"No. The contact was too brief. All I know is that she was old, powerful and not pleased that we were examining the samples." Zatanna replied sounding disappointed that she couldn't discern more, "I… I got the feeling that she was… protecting him."

"Yes, I got that impression myself. It was not one of the goddesses I've encountered since taking up the mantle of Dr. Fate." Kent stated, walking over to the rest of the group, "That would imply this goddess is reclusive or is not able to make contact with this realm very often. I will have to consult my library to learn more."

This seemed to be the consensus between the three magic users and, reluctantly, Bruce let them go. While the detective didn't like the fact that so little had been learned from their presence, there wasn't much either of them could do about it. Still, there was one bit of information that they'd gained and that was whoever Xander Harris was; he had a very powerful protector. Even if it turned out that he wasn't the Hulk, that meant something.

Whether it meant something good or bad for the rest of the world, he didn't know.

* * *

_**Daemonite Base, Location Unknown, Glory's P.O.V**_

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Glory screamed as her form was continually bombarded with pain.

Pain was nothing new to her but to experience this level of it could mean only one thing; she had somehow angered Lord Helspont.

Only he could inflict this kind of pain on her. The sort of pain that made coherent thought a moment-to-moment struggle that was sometimes won or sometimes lost. Her mind was too overwhelmed at the moment to remember the last time she'd been put through this but she knew that she both dreaded it and hated it. She dreaded it because it was the one time when all her vaunted strength meant nothing and hated it because the one that possessed the power to do this to her was unfit to possess such strength. They had been on this world, looking for the Orb of Power, for millennia with no results to speak of aside from some chicken scratches by the humans that told them nothing they didn't already know. Yet still all of the others followed him like good little minions! Not her, though. No, she only **pretended** to follow him like the rest. Her ambition was nothing less than wresting control of the Daemonites here on Earth away from Helspont and becoming their leader. It was an ambitious goal to say the least but not insurmountable for her, especially if she was permitted to stay in charge of the search for the Kherabim computer core. If she could get it alone, pry the location of the Orb from its files and then obtain the Orb on her own, she would have more than enough power to accomplish her goals and get this planet as a bonus.

However it was looking more and more like the job might get assigned to someone else.

"YOU HAVE FAILED ME, GLORIFICUS." Boomed Lord Helspont as he finally stopped torturing her with his powers, "YOU HAD A SIMPLE TASK. RECOVER THE KHERABIM COMPUTER CORE AND RETURN TO ME. YET YOU WERE BESTED BY A GREEN IGNORAMOUS AND A TEAM OF HEROES ALONG WITH THE REST OF YOUR FORCES. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THIS?"

"I cannot, my Lord." She gasped out as her body fought to recover from the torment it had been placed through.

Oh, she could have tried to explain everything away but she knew that he would not believe anything she told him. Better to say what she did than allow herself to appear weak by trying to shift the blame for the defeat onto someone else.

"INDEED THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ONE OF YOUR RANK TO BE DEFEATED BY SUCH PRIMITIVES." Helspont said, sounding less prone to violence but still just as angry, "CONSIDER YOURSELF FORTUNATE THAT I HAVE DECIDED TO ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE YOUR EFFORTS TO RECAPTURE THE COMPUTER CORE. IF THIS GREEN SKINNED PRIMITIVE IS AS STRONG AS YOU CLAIM, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DEFEAT HIM."

She could scarcely believe she was hearing even a little praise from the fiery Lord but then she realized that the higher she soared with his praise, the more fatal her experience if she failed again.

"DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FORGIVENESS, GLORIFICUS. I DO NOT TOLERATE FAILURE AND IF THERE WERE ANOTHER CAPABLE OF ACCOMPLISHING THIS TASK, YOU WOULD BE DEAD NOW." Lord Helspont declared before turning and walking away, "FAIL ME AGAIN AND I WILL ALLOW ANOTHER TO TAKE YOUR PLACE. UNDERSTOOD?"

"Yes, Lord Helspont." She said like a good little toady as she knelt on one knee before him.

She waited a full ten minutes in that position. Waited until she was sure he was gone and that anyone who might have been listening it had gone as well. Only when she was sure she was alone did she allow her true feelings to surface in the form of a fist to the floor, creating a hole in the metal surface. It infuriated her to have to toady up to that walking fire hazard but power was everything in Daemonite society. It determined what rank you had and what rights you had. At the moment there were only two others who ranked above her other than Lord Helspont and they'd achieved their ranks through guile and betrayal rather than possessing the necessary power. She'd tried matching them in their games but always managed to fail, barely hold onto her current rank. No, if she wanted to rise above all others she needed overwhelming power that no Daemonite currently on Earth could come close to matching. She'd contemplated trying to leave her current body and possess one of Earth's stronger heroes but, unfortunately, the one time she attempted to do so the pain had been enough to render her unconscious. It had only been pure chance or perhaps instinct that had allowed her true self to return to her human shell without any further complications. She had also on her own time researched the origins of some of the super powered beings of this world in the hopes that she could replicate the circumstances herself. There she had a bit more luck but many of these humans gained their powers from higher sources and those that gave themselves powers were scientific geniuses, which she was not.

_No. The Orb of Power is my only chance to finally escape the limitations that keep me from delivering some payback to those who've crossed me._ She thought as she rose to her feet to go to her quarters.

She would fix herself up first, appearance counted almost as much as power, then attempt to locate her prey. She already had an idea considering the fact that Ms. Chips-for-brains had set up a meeting with Zealot and her pet human, Grifter. If it was indeed the intention of the A.I to seek out members of her former Kherabim crew, then all she needed to do was ascertain the locations of every last one of them on the planet and then go to the one closest to the artificial being's last location. Then she would stake out the Kherabim, waiting for her target to arrive before pouncing.

_Before that, though, I'll need something to deal with that lumbering green oaf!_ She thought as her anger returned at the thought of the brute that had caused her so much trouble.

The answer for that problem wasn't coming to her as easily.

It was a fact that was hard for her to accept but she could not deny that in a contest of strength and durability, the caveman topped her. In fact, in her opinion, his strength increased in response to how pissed he was and, if there was a connection there, then it was possible he could completely best her if she infuriated him enough. That could not be permitted! She knew who the monster looked like in his human form so she would have to find out who he was first. Once that was done, she could begin constructing a plan to separate him from the Kherabim computer core so she could capture it. As long as that brutish alternate form was removed from the equation, capturing the thing she sought would be no trouble at all.

Still, she would need new subordinates, given how many she lost during the fight with the Hulk and the Justice League. Not that there was any shortage of lesser Daemonites to do her bidding but getting them to sign on with her would be something of a bother. Their fear of her was great and, while usually this was a good thing, it was now compounded by the rumors going around about what they'd be forced to face working under her, namely the Hulk. It was always a problem when ruling through fear that the second someone showed up that inspired more fear in your subordinates than you, the little bugs would flee no matter how many you killed to regain fear superiority. This being the case, she'd need something more to keep them in line but, thankfully, her favorite Daemonite scientist was working on just such a means to control others. All she would need would be for him to use a dozen or so of the lesser ranked minions as test subjects for the newest version of the implants and all would be well. Not even Lord Helspont would be all that bothered since those beneath a certain rank would not even register in his mind, much less be sufficient concern for him to get angry.

Still, she had to keep the number of losses down regardless since he considered every last one of them HIS resources to be lost or discarded whenever He chose to do so. It was no one else's choice but his.

For now, at least.

* * *

_**Sunnydale, California, Rosenberg Residence, Willow's P.O.V**_

_Just how big a mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Xander?_ Willow thought as she sneaked back to her room as her parents spoke to the military men in the living room for what had to been the tenth time since summer started.

It had been a little over two weeks since Xander had left on his self-proclaimed road trip and, while she had been a little disappointed that he hadn't emailed or called her to tell her how he was doing, she'd accepted that he might just be in a place where there was no phone or public computer. However, when military people started showing up in Sunnydale, she began to worry and that was something that only got worse when two of them showed up on her doorstep within three days of her spotting the first one. They'd asked innocent enough questions but she knew better than to take it at face value. Her time in Sunnydale fighting alongside Buffy had ingrained in her the knowledge that what you see or hear is not always the truth. The things she was certain of, though, was that the military wanted Xander and didn't know where he was. They fed her parents some bullshit story about Xander being in some trouble from terrorists but, if that was the case, then why were they so focused on Sunnydale. The terrorists certainly wouldn't bring Xander here, nor would anyone here, and even if Xander somehow managed to contact them, it wouldn't do the terrorists much good. Still, if she was right and it was the military who wanted him, then **why** did they want him? Did they know about Buffy and wanted to use her best friend as leverage? Possible. It was the only reason she could think of why they'd want Xander at all.

She'd talked to Buffy and Giles about the whole mess but neither of them cold think of a single reason that Xander would be considered so important aside from his connection to the Slayer. The ex-Watcher promised that he'd use what contacts remained to him after being fired from the Council to find out what was going on but he said not to get their hopes up. That had been five days ago and, while Rupert had been able to verify that no terrorists were involved, that was about it. She'd proposed having her hack into the military network to figure out what was going on but Giles had flatly denied her, saying that since they were already under scrutiny, she'd be caught in an instant. She'd been a little offended at that slight to her hacker abilities but she'd agreed that it would be best to wait awhile before the approached the older man with her option again. Now, though, it was clear that if she wanted to figure out what was going on, she was going to have to look into it herself.

Closing and locking her door, she went over to her laptop and booted it up. While it was doing that, she opened a drawer and, after removing a false bottom, took out her special hacking CDs that had stored on them all her custom made programs. Ever since the ex-Watcher had first asked her to look into something on the computer, she'd increased her knowledge of them and the internet by leaps and bounds, especially when it came to gaining access to other systems. Thanks to her sharp mind and help from a hacker that called himself AESE online, she'd become quite the code cracker herself.

Now would be the real test, though.

Before this she had just been hacking into local town databases and maybe the odd collaborative hack with AESE when he contacted her asking for backup. Hacking into the military's network and accessing the information she wanted without getting caught was going to require every ounce of skill and smarts she had. As the enormity of the task fell upon her she began to wonder if she shouldn't ask for some back up of her own. If she got caught not only would she not be able to find out what trouble Xander had gotten himself into but she'd likely also be facing some jail time. Not good. With that in mind and her computer finally booted up she went to the chat site where she usually talked with AESE and sent out a message to see if he was online or not.

WickedWitch: You there AESE?

It took two minutes but she finally got a reply.

AESE: Yeah. What's up?

WickedWitch: I'm going to be going behind enemy lines and need some backup. You interested?

AESE: Maybe. What's the mission?

WickedWitch: Information retrieval. Has to do with a new spotlight that's caught the attention of the Brass Star Brigade.

AESE: Sounds interesting. Count me in!

With those words the two of them went to work and, while there were a few pitfalls, they managed to gain access to the military network without setting off any alarms. They still had to be on guard while they looked for the file they were after since there were internal defenses as well as perimeter defenses. She'd had to switch CDs quickly but, when they hit the two hour mark since embarking on this mission, they finally hit pay dirt when they managed to trace the inquiries about Xander to one General Ross. The inquiries about his history and grades but the thing that stuck out were questions that seemed to be focused on special abilities or odd occurrences. Did they think Xander had powers of some kind? What could have given them that idea? She typed a message to AESE to have him help her download some encrypted files that seemed to have been saved at the beginning of the investigation. They were halfway through the downloads when their sentry programs went off, indicating that someone had noticed their presence and was in the process of beginning to track them down. Immediately she activated the ricochet program that would bounce the trace all across the world before finally landing at where they were. AESE was also putting forth similar programs but speculated that at best they'd have about twenty minutes before the military found them. With that in mind, she monitored the download progress of the files and, right when it hit the fifteen minute mark, she severed the connection and put her trail sweeping programs into place to get rid of any digital trail she might have left behind.

AESE: Looks like we lost them. You good?

WickedWitch: No sign of the hunting dogs. Still we should both set up some bridge breakers just in case.

AESE: Good idea. Thanks for the fun mission. C YA!

WickedWitch: Thanks for the help. C YA!

With that they signed off of the site they'd been using to communicate and she activated the last of her programs to clean up her computer's hard drive so that any sign of the hacker programs would be removed. She also took out three fresh dual layer CDs to copy the stolen files onto the second she'd finished perusing them herself. Maybe if she got a better idea of the beginning of the mess she could see what had caught the eye of the American military to the point where they'd put so much effort into locating him. However, as she examined the files, it was a mixture of answers and questions she got, leaving her even more worried than before. Much of what she read didn't make sense since she'd never seen Xander exhibit these abilities in all the years since they'd first met. Still, if the information in these files were accurate, then it would definitely explain why the military wanted Xander so badly. They'd love to have something like this at their disposal and would probably do anything to see the abilities Xander had apparently gained replicated in others.

Now the question became: what was she to do with this information?

She could take the info to Giles and see what he could do with it through his sources but most of those sources also had connections to the Watcher's Council. Given how those old farts had treated Buffy this past year, she wasn't about to risk something similar if not worse happening to her best friend. That meant that there was little that they could do since, aside from Giles and his Watcher connections, the Scoobies really didn't have any other allies outside of Sunnydale. That meant if she wanted to help Xander, she'd have to do it herself! She couldn't ask Buffy to leave with her, given her family and her duties as the Slayer. Besides that there was the fact that if all associates of Xander were under increased scrutiny, then the more people that vanished the more likely they'd know it was her who breached their systems. Right now it was her risk and her risk alone for the sake of her best friend.

She'd been helpless to save Jesse from the vampires.

She was no longer helpless.

She would not lose Xander to the military.

* * *

_**A Gas Station Near the Border of Utah and Colorado, Four Days Later, Mid-Morning**_

_**Xander's P.O.V**_

_I hope Zealot's right about her contact knowing something about what's happened to me._ Xander thought as he continued to monitor the flow of gas into their car.

It was something the woman and Grifter had brought up on the eighth day of his training in meditation and he'd jumped at the chance of meeting with someone who could theoretically remove his curse. With that in mind they'd set out in a rented car with him and Void in the backseat with her wearing her teenage girl disguise while he wore the new clothes they'd gotten him. While he did have a couple of sets of clothes that he'd bought after that first hotel night with Void, they'd gotten him a few more sets as a precaution against what **might** happen. As much progress as he'd made in learning to control his emotions, they all knew that he was far from becoming the supreme master to his feelings. On the off chance that that **monster** came out again, anything he'd be wearing would be shredded and he'd be lucky if he managed to keep his pants. That meant he'd be going through quite a few sets of clothes until he finally managed to establish complete control over himself or rid himself of the curse.

The man that they intended to meet with, however, was on the east coast outside of the city of Metropolis, so they had quite a trip ahead of them. A trip, during the course of which, they would have to keep a low profile in order to not give their enemies a clue as to where they were going as well as where they were at the time. Zealot said it would be a daily test of his emotional control and how well he had learned the meditative techniques that she had taught him. They would no doubt encounter a wide variety of people on their journey and some of them would probably be of the unpleasant sort that would provoke him in some way. The test would be whether or not he could retain his calm composure despite the things they would say or the acts they would perform. They were not asking him stand by and do nothing should some evil take place before him but, rather, to remain in control of his emotions no matter what. Void, Grifter and Zealot herself would be on hand to calm him down if the worst were to happen. Cole had pointed out that the monster within him seemed to be fond of the computer core in her human disguise and her presence would be the tipping point in easing the rage of the beast.

He certainly hoped so.

Hearing the sound of motorcycle engines approaching, he looked up to see a sight that did not bode well for the immediate future. Riding up to the gas station were four motorcycles and on them were leather clad ruffians that'd look right at home as members of Hells Angels. In other words they were hairy, ugly and looked like their favorite past time was either causing trouble or breaking laws. Averting his eyes from them, he did his best to focus on gassing up the car hoping that the ruffians overlooked him entirely. Sadly they pulled up on the other side of the pumps by him and their odor was powerful enough that it overpowered the smell of the gasoline easily. He held his tongue, though, as he had no interest in doing anything to get noticed or even worse to piss them off somehow.

Sadly his desire to be overlooked would be unfulfilled.

"Hey! Boy! When yer done with that one, fill these up too!" bellowed the most muscled of the four.

"Sorry, but I'm not an employee here. I'm just passing through." He stated as politely as he could, not letting the assumption that he was some gas station attendant.

"So what? Just do it boy!" the moron growled as he began to turn away.

"Do it yourself, asshole!" he barked back before his mind could stop his mouth.

This stopped all four bikers in their tracks and as one they turned with annoyed looks in their eyes.

"What…did you say…**boy**?" asked the leader, taking a threatening step forward.

He contemplated for a moment saying he was sorry and adding a little groveling in the hopes they'd just let his comment slide. He didn't want trouble but it looked like that was precisely what he'd invited by not curtailing his mouth when it counted most. However a large part of him remained the same as it had been before he'd begun his training to master his emotions and that part refused to back down from such scum.

"That's 'young man' to you and I said you can pump your own gas." He replied in a no nonsense tone of voice, "I don't know how things work where you're from but I'm not about to be your lackey."

"Well, well, well! You have some balls on ya kid." The leader said with a grin one could almost call respectful.

Maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

"Let's see if ya can back up yer words!!" the leader said before deliver a right cross to his jaw, causing him to see stars and then taste his own blood as he hit the ground.

Despite a whisper existing in his mind telling him to keep cool, he felt the flames of anger beginning to rise up in him as well as a desire to show this creep that, after taking on vampires and demons, a biker with bad BO would present little challenge to him. As he moved to get back onto his feet, the rage began to grow within him and in the corners of his sight a green light began to shine with ever increasing intensity.

"ALEXANDER!" Zealot's whip-like crack of a voice snapped him out of his anger as he turned towards the front door of the gas station.

Standing there with plastic bags full of the food they'd gone to get for the next leg of their trip was Zealot, Void and Grifter. Cole looked ready to intervene fists first and Void had an expression of worry on her face clearly concerned that the beast would get out. Zealot, on the other hand, was glaring at him, daring him to screw up, as though this were a true test of all the things she'd taught him. Seeing this, he immediately began to build his calmness from the ground up just like she had taught him and, as the seconds passed, he could feel the anger receding back into the blackness of his mind. With a final deep breath he stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth as he rose, before heading back to the pumps to finish fueling the car. As he walked he could hear the lead biker coming up behind him only to be stopped by Cole judging by the direction the new footsteps had come from.

"Don't. Trust me on this pal." Cole said in a no nonsense tone of voice, "Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry."

_No shit!_ He thought as he closed the lid on the gas tank and got into the car, _If Zannah hadn't come along with the others when she did, these four would be facing a lean, mean and green machine of destruction. They wouldn't stand a chance._

Right then and there he promised himself he'd do better in his training to control his emotions. By the time he was done, it'd take more than a punch to the face or some morons to provoke him into losing his temper.

They'd be calling him the Ice Man!

At least that was what he hoped would happen.

He prayed that's the way it would happen.

* * *

_**Another Level of Reality, Unknown Amount of Time Later**_

_Things are changing._ Thought the old man as he looked into a pool of water that did not show his reflection but the mortal world, _The goddess stirs and her champion has been chosen._

Indeed he, along with others known to him, had felt the change in the air and had not taken long at all to deduce the meaning of it all. It had been a long time since last the Lady of the mortal realm had interacted directly with the human race and the ramifications of that moment were still being felt to this day. Even with his wisdom and gift of foresight, he didn't know what the future held now that the Lady of Jade had once again bestowed her power upon a member of the human race. It could be a great boon or a great curse to those mortal beings.

_Hmmmm, mayhap the time has come for me to place mine own champion on the board._ He thought as he moved away from the pool to a balcony that overlooked a large city straight out of 10th century Europe, _I hath been considering doing so for many a year. With so many beings of great power walking the Earth, the planet doth court with disaster on almost a monthly basis. A stabilizing force is needed and there be only one in the Nine Worlds that I can trust with such an undertaking._

With a mental summons, one of his ravens flew from seemingly out of nowhere to land on his arm and look at him inquiringly like birds sometimes do.

"Fine mine son, my friend." He said with a voice that spoke of much strength and wisdom, "Tell him his father hath a great mission for him to undertake."

With a single caw of acknowledgment the bird took to the sky flying off to seek the son of the Lord of the Land. It would likely been an hour before his son would be able to return to the city with his good friends and then perhaps a half an hour before the young lad would deign arrive in his room. While the boy had come far since his mother brought him into this world, he still had yet to understand and accept his responsibilities as the next in line for the throne. Perhaps some time on Earth would do him some good.

_I doth hope that Midgard is ready for one such as he._ He thought before turning back to prepare for the arrival of his son.


	7. Every Plan Has it's Complication

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained in this fanfic. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I am make no profit off of this story. I do this for my own fun and for the enjoyment of those who like to read my works.

_**Five Days Later, Georgetown, Washington, D.C, Mid-Afternoon, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Anyone want to tell me what we're doing her in the land of politicians and honest lying?" Xander asked as they strolled down the street besides his traveling companions.

"That's Washington, Xander. This is Georgetown," Cole replied while unconsciously surveying the immediate area with his military training. "Although I hear that a lot of the spooks and politicians do come here for their bedroom rendezvouses. Basically the stuff they don't want to make the papers or get back to the missus."

"Really? Does it work?" he asked idly curious about this little fact.

"Most of the time and for the rest you have the tabloids, the scandal's and the inevitable ejection from whatever position they once had." Grifter replied not pausing once in his visual inspection, "The smart ones though have the sense to make it so that the only people who can witness their little quirks are either well-paid to keep their mouths shut or know their lives will be over if their loose lips sink the proverbial ship."

"Is that why we're here? To talk to someone with loose lips?" Void asked from her position to the right of Xander.

She had come a long way in her fabricating a believable disguise but was still debating a suitable alias to her true name. Void wasn't something a civilian was called but sounded more suitable for a superhero or super villain. She said she was going through a list of names suitable for a Caucasian teenage female born in the United States of America but that it'd take at least another few days before she finished sifting through them all to find the one for her. He'd support just about any name she picked for herself so long as it didn't wind up attracting even more attention to her than was advisable. A unique or bizarre name would only stand out that much more in the minds of the people who heard it and make them that much easier to track down. Still, she was a sentient being and, if she wanted a bizarre name, then the best he could do was come up with a nickname that would be a little more common.

"More like someone who spilled the beans when I was within earshot," Cash replied with a grin. "I'm hoping to put a little pressure on the guy so that he'll throw up some red tape to slow Ross and the League down. Both of them need the okay of the higher ups in order to do anything in this country so it's a good move."

Made sense.

Ever since the JLU went all Mount Olympus on the Earth, every major government on the planet insisted that the superhero team get their approval before doing anything. This didn't mean that the group was officially a part of any government but it did mean paperwork as well as meetings were needed at each stage of a mission. At least that's how it sounded to him after reading an article in the paper not too long ago. So, if Cole's rat really could throw up some extra roadblocks, then this deviation from their goal of reaching the super mystic outside of Metropolis would be worth it. He didn't want to face either of them because, while he'd made significant progress in controlling his emotions, he didn't want to test that control under battle conditions. If they could stall the pursuers long enough then maybe the mystic they were taking him to could undo whatever turned him into a ticking time bomb so he could get his life back. It wasn't much and it had its own problems, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about destroying everything he touched.

Turning a corner, he could tell precisely when Grifter spotted their destination and craning his neck a bit he saw it to be a modest hotel. It wasn't the picture of a seedy meeting place between a corrupt politician and his mistress but he supposed that was the whole point. Going to a place where people expected illicit affairs to take place was a sure way of getting caught since the news hounds and would stake such places out. By going to a more respectable yet not-as-frequented a place such as this, they'd be more likely to slip by unnoticed.

Entering the modest hotel, they made their way over to the front desk, behind which sat a forty-something balding man who appeared to be somewhat overweight but still dressed respectably. The man was reading a newspaper but, once they got close enough, he put it down to take them in. It wasn't until he set eyes on Cole Cash though that they got a reaction of unease and greed and that made him believe that the desk man had had interactions with Grifter before.

"Hey… Cole. Long time no see…heheheh." The man chuckled with a casual manner that was ruined by his nervous looking around, "What can I do for you and your friends? Need a room?"

"Nice of you to offer one, Frank, but what I came here for is info. Is **he** in town?" Cole asked sounding equally casual but with an air of menace to his voice.

"He… he who?" Frank asked, trying to play dumb and failing miserably.

"C'mon Frank! You know who I'm talking about," Cash said, trying to sound reasonable yet intimidating. "Whenever he comes to town for a fuck with the flavor of the month, he always comes by your hotel 'cause he knows he can count on you to keep your mouth shut for five grand or so. Now, I'm not asking you to tell me which room he's in or where he's gone looking for skirt. Just answer my question: is **he** in town?"

For a moment it looked as though Frank was going to cling to the dumb routine for a little while longer but, with one final frantic look about, the wimp caved.

"He's in town. Sounds like it'll be for a while this time, too." Frank replied, keeping his voice low and his eyes away from Cole's, "I think his 'wife' is getting on his nerves a bit and he wants to unwind a bit before going back to her."

"Sounds like him. Thanks for the info and, like always, this'll stay between the two of us." Grifter said before tossing a wad of twenty-dollar bills onto the counter, "Consider this payment for the info."

With that said the group left the hotel and headed back in the direction of the place where they'd rented out two rooms for the next few days. It didn't take them long to get there and once inside he waited for the Grifter to reveal his grand scheme for getting this shady politician to play ball.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"You going to tell us what the plan is?" he asked, proud of the way he kept his emotions in check.

"Simple. At this very moment one Senator Robert Kinsey is in town looking to fool himself into believing he's as young as most of the women you'd find hanging around street corners at night." Cole replied as he laid down on one of the beds and relaxed, "So tonight, once the evening crowd starts trolling the clubs, we'll find him, give him just enough rope to hang himself and then persuade him how 'smart' it would be to grant us our simple request."

"Persuade him? How?" he asked, wondering what the game plan was and not liking being kept in the dark.

"We'll persuade him with these." Zealot replied before tossing something at him.

Out of reflex if nothing else he managed to catch the object and when he looked down at it he saw what looked to be some sort of fancy mini-camera.

"Simply take a few pictures of him in a compromising position and withdraw." She explained while pocketing her own camera, "You need not confront him tonight. The priority is to obtain the leverage we require. Nothing more."

"Not a problem. Doubt a threat coming from a guy fresh from high school would work very well, anyway." He muttered, familiarizing himself with the controls of the camera.

"Not as you are, no, but I bet if you let Big Green out you'd be plenty intimidating." Cash stated with an amused grin as he no doubt imagined that scenario.

Too bad he chose the wrong thing to say in the presence of one Alexander LaVelle Harris.

"Not happening. Not now, not later and not **EVER** if I have any say in it." He said with a chill in his voice that silenced everyone.

With nothing further to say he turned and left for the other room they'd rented which was connected to the one they were in by a door. A part of him knew that Grifter was just trying to lighten the mood but the monster he turned into was just the mother of all touchy subjects with him at the moment. It likely would be until they reached the mystic outside of Metropolis who, hopefully, would be able to cure him.

Because, make no mistake, that's precisely what the Hulk was: a cancer inside of him that needed to be cut out and destroyed.

_**Outside of the Hotel, 7:00pm, Grifter's P.O.V**_

"Alright, here's your list of places. Check'em out one by one and we'll meet back here by ten." Cole said, passing Xander his list of possible Kinsey hangouts, "Oh! One more thing kid… you'll need this to get into some of these places."

With those words he passed the kid a hand written note that just about every bouncer and door man in town would be able to identify without too much trouble. The kid looked of age but some of the guys in this town were complete assholes when it came to carding people and often kicked people to the curb no matter what their age if they were in a bad enough mood. Fortunately his reputation as the Grifter should be enough to bully all but the most dimwitted among them into letting Harris inside.

"You're autograph? You got a couple of fans at these places?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You could say that." He replied before an unpleasant memory surfaced, "Though if you see a guy with a pair of rods strapped to his side you'll probably want to move on to the next place."

As far as he knew, Pike wasn't in town but, considering their situation, it wouldn't hurt Xander to be on the lookout for potential complications.

"See you two kids later." He said before he gently guided Zealot in the opposite direction the two with the appearance of teenagers would be going.

Once they were both out of sight as well as too far away for their traveling companions to overhear them, he let the warrior woman go and from the look in her eyes she wanted an explanation.

"Look, Harris is enough in the dumps as it is after what I said earlier," he said, trying not to be intimidated by the Coda warrior's gaze. "I figure giving him that list will pay back the debt I owe him."

"Are you sure it is wise for him to visit such places?" She asked, not betraying even a sliver of what she was feeling, "We have not yet achieved a full understanding of his condition. Going to those places could lead to a transformation."

"Maybe but you've seen how Void can snap him out of it more often than not." He pointed out, showing his supporting evidence, "Plus she knows what to look for and can get him clear in the blink of an eye if things take a turn for the worse."

"Very well." Was all Zealot said before turning away from him and heading to the first place on their list.

_She just never changes!_ He thought as he fellow into a trot behind her.

It had been a couple of years since he'd first met the woman on a mission overseas and, ever since then, he'd made it his own personal hobby to learn as much about her as possible. However, as with most information gained from the warrior woman, it offered more than one possible interpretation and nothing he'd ever said to her had convinced her to tell him which one was the right one. Still, he supposed that was for the best since it'd make finding the truth all the more satisfying in the end.

Thinking about the past, he couldn't help but think of the first time that he'd met Zealot. It'd been back in the early 90's and he'd only been freelance for three months after Team 7 jumped ship from their bosses in Virginia. He'd been in Greece on a mission to 'liberate' some files from a landowner out in the boonies who'd been causing problems for his employer. What he hadn't found out until it was too late was that the landowner was a Daemonite agent who'd been assigned the job of buying up all the land he could. Apparently the bug faces had thought that if they owned the majority of the land then they could dictate terms to the government for use of said land. Not a **bad** idea but the freaks hadn't counted on him getting as far as the safe or Zealot crashing in through the window, sword swinging. It'd been a close thing for both of them considering the firepower Helspont's cronies had been packing but, in the end, they lived and the files he turned over to his employer was enough to shut down the Daemonite land operation in Greece.

After that Zannah had filled him in on the whole Daemonite versus Kherubim war and, from that point on, he'd signed himself up for the long haul. It'd taken him some time to get Zealot to accept the idea of him as a partner but, once she did agree she put him through training, that had almost been enough to send him packing. Only through sheer stubbornness had he made it as far as he had and, while some would think that he had finished the training, it was in fact still a work in progress. Whenever they were between missions or were in the middle of preparations, she made it routine to take him to the largest clear space in the area and put him through his paces.

_Fortunately, since Xander came along, I've been riding the lazy train since Zannah's been too busy. _He thought as he followed the long white hair hanging from Zealot's head.

Thinking about that, he took a moment to reflect on the kid's predicament and had to shake his head at the mess that had been made. On the surface it didn't look too bad since turning into a powerhouse capable of taking on the likes of Superman was no small achievement. The part that sucked though was that Alexander couldn't control himself when he transformed. In fact, it might as well have been a case of multiple personality disorder since the Hulk was different enough from Xander to be considered an independent personality. As strong as the big green machine was, his IQ was that of a four year old and that meant that thoughts more complex than 'Hulk Smash' were pretty much impossible. He couldn't imagine how terrible it must be for Xander to know that, if he lost his temper, he'd essentially black out only to awaken hours later completely in the dark about what his alter ego had done until someone told him. He just hoped that Stephen would be able to do something otherwise Harris' mood would go from bad to worse in no time flat.

And, considering that the young man tended to turn into a muscle bound mean machine when he got upset, that wouldn't bode well for Metropolis.

Still, he'd meant what he'd said earlier about Void having a knack for keeping the Californian calm so he figured that as long as the A.I didn't go anywhere they'd be alright.

He hoped.

_**Two Hours Later, Outside of the Club Called "The Hot Spot", Xander's P.O.V**_

_Thank GOD! Looks like this is the last place on the list._ Xander thought as he looked at the building across the street from him and Void, _I've learned more about Kinsey's habits in the last hour and a half then I __**ever**__ wanted to._

He had thought that he'd known the depths at which a politician would stoop from the newspapers or the more popular movies but nothing could have prepared him for what he'd witnessed. Kinsey doing **that** to a woman or making a barely legal teenager do something that **disgusting**. EW! He was going to be scrubbing those images out of his mind for months and the worst part of it was, despite both he and Void doing their best, they'd yet to gain a single satisfactory picture. Whether it was because the Senator had his bodyguards block off where he chose to sit or the bad lighting in some of the places he'd been in the quality of the pictures was pathetic.

Judging from the way the old man was looking at the moment, it looked like this club would be the last one of the night before the old fart turned in for the night. As much as Kinsey wanted to believe he could still party hard like guys half his age, the truth of the matter was that four hours of hard partying was the limit for dear old Robert. Four hours of visiting some of the seediest bars he'd ever been to, watching the target act like the big man on campus while handing out wads of hundred dollar bills that he'd probably skimmed off the top of the budget of some federal project. While some of the older ladies seemed to be used to Kinsey's actions, the younger ones needed just a little more persuasion of the greenback kind to submit to the geezer's perversions. More than once he'd been forced to employ the meditation techniques Zealot had taught him to keep his cool because it… upset him that someone in a position of power could engage in such obscene acts. Even with the inept S.P.D and Wilkins manipulating things back in Sunnydale, he'd held onto the belief that it was only in his hometown that things were really that bad.

Now he knew better.

"Let's get this over with." He said to Void before crossing the street to the club.

It apparently wasn't a busy night for the place, only three people were lined up outside, but the doorman was definitely one of the more intimidating he'd come across so far tonight. No neck, bulging muscles and a perpetual look of 'I am in a bad mood right now' on his face that was enough to make everyone stay on their best behavior around him. Getting into line with Void behind him, they waited their turn but before they could even get their IDs out to show that they were the right age the giant stopped them in their tracks and shook his head.

"I don't care what them fake IDs say. No way yer old enough for this place kid." Declared the doorman with a voice that sounded like a landslide, "Take yer girl someplace else."

"They're not fake. Look I'm sure you've had this job long enough to tell the real deals from the knock offs. Just take a look and you'll see they're real." He said trying to sound reasonable to the guy.

It was a point in the big guy's favor that he actually decided to take a look at Xander's ID but that didn't last long since with more than a little contempt he tossed it back dismissively.

"Nice try kid but I recognize Freddy Two Tone's handywork." Mr. Doorman said before pointing away from the club, "Next time you want a fake ID make ask Tiny Tina. She does better detail work. Not enough to get you in here but definitely better quality than Freddy's work."

He had no idea who Tiny Tina or Freddy Two Tone were but he figured they had to be the local sources for fake IDs. It didn't matter though because he and Void still needed to get into the club to snap some incriminating pics of Kinsey and so he decided to play the only other card he had. Taking out the hand written note that Cole had given him a few hours ago he held it out for the doorman to take.

"If the IDs aren't enough then maybe this might convince you to let us in." He said watching as the muscle man took the offered piece of paper, "A friend gave it to me to show you in case we had any trouble getting in."

"What is it? A note from your Mommy?" Asked the doorman sarcastically as he unfolded the note.

"Nope. It's a note from my friend Cole Cash, but you might know him better as Grifter." He replied, hoping the name plus the note would smash any remaining bullshit the asshole planned on sending his way.

Seeing the man's eyes widen in shock and look more intently at the note, he knew he'd hit paydirt. Somewhere in the past this intimidating specimen of muscle had encountered Grifter and Cole had made enough of an impression to be taken seriously. Ten seconds later it looked like the guy had come to a conclusion and gestured for them to enter the club.

"You're free to enter." Mr. Doorman said with more politeness this time, "Tell Grifter next time you see him though to at least get quality IDs next time instead of the cheap ass ones."

"I'll be sure to tell him." He said walking by the man and into the club.

Upon entering the building, he was slightly pleased to find that the place was cleaner, classier and better lit with lights than any of the previous places they'd followed the senator. It was also a cross between a strip joint and a middle class tavern with furniture scattered all over the place. The place looked to be half-filled with patrons and roaming about the place were employees that were definitely angled towards a female majority. All body types and all colors were there for him to see, both in skin tone as well as clothes, but he knew that was because it was good business to have a lady to suit the tastes of every customer. Not that he was interested in sampling what the place had to offer. He was here for one reason only: snap pics of Kinsey acting like a horny teenager so that they could 'persuade' him to throw some roadblocks up in front of Ross as well as the JLU. With that in mind, he discreetly looked about the area for his target and found him almost immediately though he immediately wished he hadn't. Sitting down on a sofa was the senator and under each of his arms were two girls who looked like they were barely old enough to be working in a place like this. While one looked like she had some experience, the other was definitely nervous with just a pinch of 'maybe getting a job here was not the best idea' on her face.

"Easy, Xander," Void said putting a cautionary hand on his forearm. "Remember why we're here."

"I know." He replied as he began to move to the spot with the best unobstructed line of sight to where Kinsey was.

Once both he and Void were in place, he removed the mini-camera from his pocket and did his best to aim the lens to where Kinsey was sitting. It took a little adjusting and he had to fake tying his shoelace once to look through the other end so that he could make sure it was lined up properly but once he was satisfied he just waited for the right opportunity. Obviously he couldn't look at the old fart too often or in such a way that he'd stand out but fortunately Void caught on to what he was doing and tapped his arm lightly when a choice shot was about to happen. It took a little over half an hour but, by the time they were done, he was certain that they had at least three good shots that would work wonders in gaining the pervert's co-operation. He was about to leave when one of the waitresses stepped into his personal space preventing him from leaving his seat.

Standing before him was what looked like one of those shiny silver female mannequins with a head of metallic red hair and clad in a leather outfit that gave him a few seconds of hormonal freezing. After all, thigh high boots, high cut thong bikini bottoms, black choker and a bodice that only enhanced her cleavage could give any fan of the female form a case of mental blue screen of death.

"Now, now, hot stuff, you wouldn't be leaving before the big show starts, would you?" the girl asked moving her body to block any attempt he made to get out of his seat, "Two of my gal pals are tonight's main attraction and I'm sure they'd be **so** disappointed if a cutie like you missed their performance. You wouldn't want to hurt their feelings would you, hmmm?"

"Um…well…no…I…guess not…um…" he replied barely able to fight off the perfectly normal reaction for a teenage guy sitting in close proximity to a scantily clad attractive young woman.

"Good! I knew you weren't the type to break a girl's heart." Said Ms. Metal as her voice became more normal but still sensual enough to keep the young man in front of her off balance.

With that she sashayed away from him, hypnotizing him with her hips before disappearing into the crowd. Shaking off the mesmerizing effect, he covertly looked at Void to see what her reaction to all this was and found her with an oddly fascinated look on her face. He mentally groaned as he suspected her 'adult' information database just got updated with the outfit the redhead was wearing as well as the tactics the young woman had used. Ever since the sentient computer core had awakened in this new time, she'd been devouring every scrap of information she could get her hands on. However he was sure it was his imagination but he could swear that her information gathering activities were leaning specifically towards male-female relationships. He had occasionally wondered why because, as far as he knew, she should have no use for such information as she didn't have the any need to have such an intimate relationship.

At least that was what he thought.

However a larger part of him thought that because she was a sentient being like the rest of them, anything was really possible. Even if, strictly speaking, she didn't have the anatomy for the biological end result of a personal relationship, plenty of people got by without it. That line of thought, though, had him fleeing to a safer conclusion of an academic minded computer merely being interested in acquiring the facts rather than putting them into practice. It wasn't that he didn't find her **somewhat** attractive both in her holo-disguise and out of it, but he had enough trouble with women that were the same species as him. He had no idea how he'd handle the advances of a female sentient computer but he was pretty sure it'd be awkward as well as potentially humiliating.

Easing back into his seat, he decided that he'd stay for **one** show and, once that was finished, he was out of this club. He wouldn't watch because he liked this sort of thing but rather because it might be the perfect chance to catch Kinsey slipping some bills into the g-string of the ladies performing. That would bring him close to the lights illuminating the stage making catching him on film easy and it was impossible to explain away sliding hundred dollar bills into a half naked woman's thong. With that in mind he placed his mini-camera back in position to capture any complicating acts the good senator made.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I hope that you've been enjoying the fine entertainment of this establishment but now the time has come for the finale performance of the night!" Came a man's voice over the speakers hanging from the ceiling as the spotlights moved about the room before settling on the curtains at the back of the stage, "Allow me to introduce two ladies who will work their magic on you and leave you spellbound by their performance. I present to you… THE VOODOO TWINS!"

With that two tanned legs emerged from the crimson curtains as Creedance Clearwater Revival's "I Put a Spell on You" filled the air. Both legs had a knee-high boots that seemed to be covered in brown fur, save for the high heeled purple bottoms, and barely big enough purple knee pads. Then, a few seconds after the first lyrics, two lovely ladies that weren't much older than him and were indeed twins fully emerged from behind the curtain. Both had black hair, blue eyes, with jade dragon tattoos on the sides of both of their arms and legs. Watching them as they strutted with sex appeal down the length of the stage to the edge, he barely managed to take in the rest of their identical outfits. Skin-tight purple and yellow backless shirt, purple loincloth that hung to just past their knees, purple leather gloves and a sapphire headdress with golden coins handing from it.

Reaching the end of the stage they both grasped it and hugged it to their chests before arching backwards, thus creating a veritable heavenly valley with their tits. It only lasted long enough for the audience to draw their own comparisons before they began to circle the pole like a carousel for a few seconds, grabbing onto their loincloths and tearing them away. Beneath those loincloths were high cut thong bikini bottoms much like the one worn by the redhead who'd persuaded him to stay for the show. Then they bent over and kissed the pole while they sexily used their hips and ass to maximum effect tantalizing the audience with their well-shaped butts. With one final perfectly in-synch swing of their butts, one of the young ladies strutted to a spot just shy of the curtain before whirling around to look at her twin. Before everyone's eyes both ladies began to undulate their bodies making it look as though they were trying to seduce each other sliding their hands along their curves in the progress.

As if that wasn't hot enough, they then decided to turn up the heat as the music reached the halfway point.

Walking back towards each other to the mid-point of the stage, swinging their hips as they went, when they met they wrapped their arms around the others' neck before locking lips in a big way. Watching them make out while standing, he had to wonder if they really were in a romantic relationship because it looked to him as though they had completely forgotten themselves to the pleasure they were feeling. However, just as the moment arrived when someone might feel obliged to snap the two of them out of it, they withdrew from their embrace and decided to take something with them. With a move akin to peeling wallpaper off of a wall they removed their performing partner's shirts before casting them aside. Not that anyone was paying attention to the purple and yellow colored pieces of cloth because with them gone there was nothing to conceal the large C cup breasts that the twins were blessed with.

He had a hard time not staring at them himself.

… Hey! He was a young man in his prime and still rooming with his hormones and he couldn't help but listen to it when such compelling evidence was present for its arguments.

Still the twins seemed to know what the people wanted and so as the final quarter of the song began to play both of them went through a series of moves meant to flaunt and taunt with their awesome attributes. As they arrived at the final thirty seconds of the song both of the performers dropped to all fours and began to crawl around like the sexual predators they were. It was a tantalizing scene and so when it ended with one young lady's head covering the other's crotch and both of them pushing their tits up for all to see.

"Let's hear it for the Voodoo Twins ladies and gentlemen!" Came the announcer's voice as the twins got to their feet, "Show your appreciation by making a donation as they pass your table if you please."

With those words clapping, catcalls and whistles filled the air as the identical ladies began to walk by the tables pausing, only for a few seconds to allow a patron to slip a dollar bill beneath the string of their thongs. He had to admit that he was tempted to show his appreciation when they reached him but before the thought proceeded any further he felt a hand come down on his own, snapping him out of the sexual haze he'd been in. Turning to see who it was, he realized that unlike him, Void had not been as hindered by the performance as he had been and had a look of concern on her face.

"Xander you must calm yourself. You're eyes are beginning to glow." Void warned with weight to her words.

Shocked by her words, he inspected his own vision and found that a green glow was indeed creeping in from the corners of his vision. Checking all of his vitals, he found more proof of the rising danger in the form of increased heartbeat and the sensation of adrenaline beginning to flow through his veins. Out of fear of what might happen, he immediately began to employ one of Zealot's meditation techniques no matter how he might look to others. Bit by bit he worked to calm both his body and his mind in order to snap the locks back on the cage that held the Hulk prisoner inside of himself. It only took a few moments but, when he opened his eyes, there was no green glow in even the smallest amounts from the edges of his vision. His heart rate was also back to normal and that meant that the threat of the monster inside of him getting loose was thankfully gone. He had no desire for the deaths of everyone in the room to be placed on his soul. He already felt guilty enough for what the Hulk did in Vegas and had no desire to compound that horrible incident with another.

"Hands off, old man!" came a female voice from the other side of the stage where the Voodoo Twins were gathering their tips from the crowd, "We're a strict no touching act!"

Looking up, he saw a sight that filled him both with disgust and a bit of satisfaction because, at that very moment, Senator Robert Kinsey was being a bit liberal with where his wandering hands were going. This might be his first time in a strip joint but he knew that when it came to providing the tips to the strippers, you were only allowed to touch them as much as was needed to slip the dollar bills beneath their g-string or into their hands. It was most definitely not permitted for patrons to cup the ass of a performer or try to feel up their other sexual assets. Kinsey, though, apparently thought that since he was a United States Senator that he was entitled to some V.I.P perks in the form of groping as well as pinching. Taking his mini-camera and snapping a few pics of these questionable acts, he wasn't worried that it would go on for too long as he could already spot two of the establishment's muscle men moving to put a stop to Kinsey's acts of immorality.

"Mr. Kinsey, I am going to have to ask you to cease fondling the employees." Said Mr. Muscle #1 as he clamped down on the old man's right wrist, "Ms. Morse is correct that we do not allow patrons to touch the performers like that."

"Get your hands off me, you ignoramus! I'm a United States senator ya know!" Kinsey said angrily as he yanked his right arm out of man's grip, "You and those whores should be thankful that a man of my standing even deigns to step through those doors, much less drop as much money as I have!"

While he suspected that half of the man's words were due to his inebriated state, the rest was definitely a case of the old fart's ego. It was all too typical that the man had let his power go to his head and, while he might have more common sense while sober, the booze had completely stripped him of that valuable trait. Still it didn't look like the asshole was very fit and his bodyguards would likely do the smart thing and try to persuade their employer to not make a scene.

"Kimble! Patterson! Keep those two morons back while I have my fun." Kinsey ordered before turning to the Voodoo Twins, "As for you two bitches, if you know what's good for you, you'll forget about giving me any grief. One way or another you're mine for the evening!"

He waited for a sign that the two bodyguards would try to persuade the fool to rethink his actions but instead they followed the bastard's orders, forming a human wall to keep the muscle boys back. He didn't know whether they were scum or cowards but the end result was the same and that meant that, unless someone intervened, both of the Voodoo Twins would have stinky old man all over them in a minute. He knew from the unusual appearances of some of the employees that they were likely meta-humans or mutants so surely at least one of them might have the power to put a stop to this. However, as soon as he thought that, he realized that an employee intervening might not be the best course of action to take at the moment. While the sentiment towards meta-humans might be positive for the most part, mutants were seen in a much more unflattering light. Whether it was because the nature of the x-gene was harder to pin down scientifically than the meta-gene or simply because the x-gene had a habit of significantly altering the physical appearance of the mutant, he didn't know. What he did know was if the super powered employees were in fact mutants rather than meta-humans, then that could cause all sorts of trouble for the club.

_Guess it's time to play good Samaritan!_ He thought as he got up from his seat and ran to intercept the old man.

A few steps, a leap over the stage obstructing his path and he was able to use his own body as an obstacle to keep the fossil from getting what he wanted.

"I think you've had enough fun for one night, buddy." He said trying to sound reasonable but resolute, "Why don't you head back to your hotel room or whatever and sober up. It'd be preferable to what'll happen to you if you keep acting like an asshole."

"You stupid punk! You think you can talk to me like that and get away with it." Kinsey yelled, putting his hands in his pockets trying to look important and impressive.

"Considering all your muscle is occupied keeping the club bouncers busy and you don't look like you can throw a decent punch, then, yeah, I think I can get away with it." He replied crossing his arms in defiance.

"Well you thought… WRONG!" Declared Kinsey before removing something from his right pocket and lunging forward towards him.

Under normal circumstances he'd have no trouble evading the attack, it was nothing when compared to an attack from a vampire or a demon, but the fact that he was taken completely by surprise made all the difference. In the blink of an eye the senator had something pressed against his chest but, before he could even mentally ask the question 'what is it', his body was overcome with pain causing him to drop to one knee. His mind was completely cracked from the pain and he reflexively pressed his right hand against the spot where the attack had landed. Opening one eye, he discovered that the weapon Kinsey had used was a stun gun on him shoving quite a few volts of electricity into his body.

Needless to say it was quite painful.

Painful and against his will, causing adrenaline to course through his veins as an automatic reaction to the pain he was feeling. Just as automatic was the increase in speed at which his heart beat as it facilitated the circulating of the adrenaline throughout his body. Cursing his luck, he could see the emerald light beginning to creep forward from the edges of his vision and, unlike minutes before, he couldn't focus enough to use any meditation techniques to slow things down. DAMMIT! Looking up at the arrogant old man as he basked in his hollow victory, he focused what willpower he could muster to keep his temper in check, lest it make things worse.

"You shouldn't have done that, old man." He managed to say with remarkable calmness, "Not only have you given me grounds to file assault charges with dozens of witnesses but you're beginning to piss me off. Trust me when I say that you wouldn't like me when I'm that angry."

"Oh is that so? Then I guess that doing THIS—" Kinsey said before delivering a slightly unsteady kick to the young man's face, "—wouldn't be a good move for me to make!"

Knocked onto his back, he could feel the increase in pain forcing more adrenaline into his body and dropping fuel onto the fire that was his anger. He knew he had to calm down, he knew what would happen if he didn't, but his resolve had been weakened by the pain and its effects on his mind. Still, he had enough of his mind together to notice when Void arrived at his side and placed a strong hand on his shoulder. Her presence helped his resolve as he made steady work of commanding his body to mellow out and, as a bonus, her nature meant that Kinsey's stun gun wouldn't do more than give her a slight energy boost if he used it on her.

"If you know what's good for you, asshole, you'll walk away now." Void said, using her disguise's voice as she knelt at his side, "We might know who you are but you do not know who we are. Do you really want to take the chance that you might piss off the wrong person?"

For a moment it looked like the bastard might actually back down but it was only for a moment and then the cockiness returned as strong as ever.

"Nice try you little cunt! You also had me fooled!" Kinsey declared smugly confident in his position, "Anyone I'd have to worry about would have their own bodyguards right beside them wherever they went. Since that isn't the case then obviously you two are just a pair of nobodies! Now get out of my way! You'll get your just deserts soon enough!"

With that final word the creep delivered a vicious backhand to Void's face, knocking her to the side. He knew that she could have become intangible if she'd wanted and that, even if she had been knocked aside, she hadn't actually been hurt but reason she hadn't defended herself was simple. If she used any of her abilities or revealed her true form, she'd be letting all of the pursuers know where to find them. He was under no illusions that the news would spread like wildfire once the people present left the building and Void knew that as well.

Nevertheless… nevertheless seeing her hit like that and doing a damn good job mimicking the proper reaction to being struck only made him madder.

Mad enough that he was helpless to do anything as the green light that was his bane surged forward blocking out all else and his mind was shunted off to the darkness.

_**The Hot Spot, Georgetown, Washington, D.C, Void's P.O.V**_

_I fear that I have made a severe miscalculation._ Void thought as she finished mimicking the appropriate reaction for being struck hard in the face.

When Xander had confronted the senator in an effort to prevent further harassment of the two topless performers, she had remained on standby, believing her friend would be able to handle the intoxicated man. It had only been when she'd seen the senator attack the youth with his stun gun that she had chosen to intervene and use their unknown status to bluff their way out of the situation. With her enhanced senses, she had seen Kinsey's blow coming and while she could have done something to block or evade it there was too much risk of her true nature being exposed to do anything but take the blow. She had hoped that the senator would be satisfied that his two obstructions had been dealt with and in a huff of drunken anger storm out of the building. However, unless the arrogant man left the building within the next minute, she would wind up bearing witness to the precise opposite of what Grifter had intended with their visit to this city.

Instead of the situation calming down it was, as Xander would put it, going straight to hell. Before her very optics she watched as her friend began to grow in both height and width with his skin becoming greener by the moment. She couldn't see how he appeared from the front but, judging from the way that those in front of him were backing away, the look on young Harris' face was not a smile. As the clothes began to rip under the pressure that the growing girth and muscle were placing it under, other sounds accompanied it like breathing as loud as a blacksmith's bellows. In less than a minute the transformation was complete and standing where Xander Harris used to be was the mountain of muscle known as the Hulk.

And she did not think he was in a pleasant mood.

"Ugly old man hurt Hulk." Hulk growled in anger as his hands clenched into fists, "Now Hulk **hurt** **OLD MAN!**"

With those words the green goliath grabbed Kinsey with his massive right hand, nearly wrapping all around the senator's mid-section. Lifting the source of his rage into the air to stare the elderly man right in the eye for a moment, she hoped it would end with that small bit of intimidation but the bodyguards of the older man chose that moment to intervene.

"Put him down, you freak!" yelled black-clad brunette bodyguard as he aimed his Beretta 92 at the not-so-jolly jade giant, "I **mean NOW!**"

Xander's alter ego appeared to consider the demand for all of three seconds before throwing the senator at the bothersome bodyguard. The two collided with enough force to not only send them to the ground but also sliding along the ground with sufficient speed to bowl over one of the club's bouncers. This, however, was enough to provoke the blonde bodyguard that had entered the club with Kinsey into opening fire on the threat to his employer's life. It did no good though for if the Hulk could withstand blows from the likes of Superman and survive energy attacks strong enough to destroy armored vehicles then a couple of lumps of metal wouldn't even register. Nor did they, but they did have the effect of stirring the occupants of the club into an even larger panic then before because while most of the bullets simply fell flattened to the floor some bounced off in random directions. Directions that brought the deadly rounds close to hitting both patron and performer alike but thus far nothing but furniture had been struck.

She did not believe that would last for very long though.

Indeed, if the bodyguards or Kinsey did anything more to piss off the Hulk, it was highly unlikely that the building itself would remain standing.

She had to get the non-combatants out of the building before they got hurt or Xander would never forgive himself once he regained control of his body from the Hulk.

"We have to get out of here!" She said with sufficient urgency to the nearest group of club patrons and employees.

"What do you mean? Can't you talk your friend down!" asked one of the bitchier looking, scantily clad ladies.

"No. When he's this mad I need to wait until he's vented a little before he'll even listen to me." She replied not lying since it was true, "Somehow I don't think it'd be smart to wait in here until that happens."

The proverbial exclamation point on that statement was made when with a roar of rage the Hulk picked up a nearby chair and hurled it at the bodyguard firing at him. The idiot barely evaded it but did provide further support for her appraisal of his mental faculties when, instead of taking his employer and running, he simply resumed firing ineffectually at the mammoth-sized man. Dividing her attention between helping the civilians out of the building and being mindful of what Xander's alter ego, she hoped that the Hulk's temper wouldn't lead to violence too soon. At the moment the big brute was focused on tossing around Kinsey and his bodyguards like they were dolls and it was only thanks to the cushions of the furniture that the trio hadn't been seriously hurt yet. It wouldn't last, though, because she knew that it was only a matter of time before the jade giant's temper got the better of him.

Seeing the last of the club patrons and employees vanish out the door, she turned around to do one final survey of the interior to make sure that no one had been left behind. It wasn't until she spotted the furthest corner of the main room that she spotted the Voodoo Twins huddled behind a sturdy metal staircase. However what struck her as odd was not that they hadn't left with the others but, rather, that they looked to be fascinated by what they were seeing. Were they some sort of super power fan girls enjoying the show or was it something else? Whatever the case, she needed to get them to safety so that she could begin trying to calm down Xander so that they could disappear swiftly. She had no doubt that the people who had already exited the building would contact the police within minutes and the last thing they needed was to enter into a conflict with the law enforcement community.

Using some of her flight abilities to speed herself along to the other side of the room, it didn't take her long for her to reach the duo. Before she spoke a word, though, she did a quick scan of their forms in anticipation of having to alter her holo-disguise later. Just as word would get out about the Hulk appearing here, there was a good chance that she'd get connected to the green giant as well. Helspont's agents in the law enforcement community would be quick to identify her based on the fight at the construction site providing a location for the Daemonites to swarm to. With this being the case, she would have to modify her holo-disguise's appearance to appear distinctly different and, if she used the two young women in front of her as a base, it would make things easier.

"Come! We must get out of here!" She said urgently as she took hold of nearest twin's hand and began to pull her towards the nearest exit.

"No way! I want to see what Big Green can do when he really cuts loose!" spoke the one on her right, who was acting as though this was a match in a fighting tournament.

"And I'm not going anywhere without my Megan!" spoke the one on her left, albeit looking less than interested in seeing the Hulk wipe the floor with Kinsey and his people.

"If the Hulk 'cuts loose', he will bring this entire building down on our heads!" she growled, trying to persuade them of the danger staying where they were would pose.

"If it gets that bad, I can get us out without too much trouble." Said the one on the right without any doubt about the truth of her words.

_What does she mean by that?_ She thought as she considered the possibilities.

She knew from the appearances of some of the employees of The Hot Spot that they were either meta-humans or mutants. It therefore stood to reason that perhaps the Voodoo Twins could one of those two branches of human and, thus, possessed superhuman abilities capable of protecting them from harm. Still, the duo did not know the Hulk, nor could they fathom what he was capable of when sufficiently provoked, and few could counter events they could not predict. She, still believed that the wiser course of action would be for the three of them to leave the building but unless she was prepared to use force there was no way to get them to leave.

Thus she had no choice but to remain by their side and hopefully be able to intervene should they be placed in danger when the destruction rose to the next level.

_**Ten Blocks Away From 'The Hot Spot', Five Minutes Later, Zealot's P.O.V**_

"I hope that Xander and Void are having better luck than us." Stated Brother Grifter as they walked towards the area of the city where they planned on meeting up before going to their hotel.

"Assuming they were able to finish reconnaissance on all of the locations on their list, the odds of their success are high." She replied, while maintaining her warrior's awareness of their surroundings, "All that can be questioned is whether or not they were able to acquire the leverage we require to force the senator to agree to our terms."

"Don't worry! If old Robbie Kinsey is the same as I remember, he'll be so focused on the 'entertainment' he won't even think about keeping an eye out for spies," Cole said with confidence and a smile. "If he has any goons with him, they'll only be worried about the people immediately around their boss. The only worry I have is that Xander or Void will take lousy pictures."

Based on what her ally had said about the senator, she could see his prediction of Kinsey's behavior being accurate. Throughout the centuries she'd been alive since her ship crash landed on Earth, she had had the unfortunate pleasure of encountering numerous officials like him. Officials that cared not for the people they were supposed to be serving but rather focused only on their own agendas and base desires. Such men were slow to realize how transitory their power was and how easily it could be taken away from them with means that were available to anyone. Indeed, such men would not be able to perceive Alexander or Void unless the duo did something to draw attention to themselves they would be fine.

It was just as she finished thinking that out of the sky dropped a slightly mangled car that was damaged even more by the impact before it came to a stop by crashing into a nearby building. She did not need to even look at Cole to know that he was wondering the same thing she was: had Xander transformed and done this?

"No chance this was Xander's doing." Grifter said, trying to dismiss the possibility with words, "Void knows she has to keep him calm and he's always reacted to her. Plus there's a ton of super strong mutants and meta-humans out there. It's probably one of them."

Indeed.

Enhanced strength was indeed a common enough power among those designated meta-human or mutant. Nevertheless she found it somewhat suspicious that something of this nature would choose to happen right when they were in town. Still, until she had more conclusive proof that incriminated Alexander, she would do as Cole was doing and assume that the young man was innocent of any wrong doing.

Whatever deities existed on Earth must have heard her thoughts for, in the span of two heartbeats, another car fell to the ground not far from where the first had but, in this case, the incriminating proof was great indeed. Pressed into the metal of the passenger side door was a hand print many times that of a normal person's hand and so there was only one conclusion she could come to. Without a word to Grifter she broke into a run and headed in the direction that the airborne vehicles had come from in the hopes of putting a stop to the destruction. She knew that there would be no way to completely remove Alexander's presence from the events transpiring at that very moment but at the very least she could minimize what their pursuers could use against them.

It did not take long for one of her training to arrive at her destination and what she saw made her place a reminder in her mind to chastise Xander for what had transpired. Standing in the middle street, rampaging after the very senator that their group had sought to acquire blackmail material against, was none other than the Hulk. She knew not what had provoked Xander enough to bring about his transformation but, considering Cole's appraisal of Kinsey's immoral nature, it must have been something truly offensive. While she could understand the young man-turned-giant's reaction, he should have known better than to permit the emergence of the Hulk in such a public area.

"Looks like Kinsey's stuck his foot it some seriously stinky shit this time." Grifter said as he came to a stop behind her with his mask on and guns in both hands, "So how do you want to handle this?"

"Find Void and get her to the Hulk." She replied as she withdrew two ninjato from beneath her coat, "I will attempt to distract him until you arrive."

Without waiting for confirmation she leapt onto the nearest vehicle before using the next one as a springboard to jump over the Hulk's head to land in front of him. Seeing the look of anger on the giant's face, she took some comfort in the fact that, in this form, what little skill Xander might have possessed in battle was most likely reduced to a level comparable to a child. While she would still have to be wary of catching even a glancing blow from his fists, she was confident she could delay him long enough for Void to arrive.

"Sword lady get out of Hulk's way or Hulk SMASH!" growled the Hulk as he advanced on her position.

"I am afraid I cannot do that, Hulk." She replied, not budging so much as half an inch.

With a yell of anger he brought both fists above his head, no doubt with the intention crushing her beneath them on the way down. It would not happen that way, though, for she was a Coda warrior and, with two quick slashes, she attempted to cause enough damage to provoke a reflexive action. For a moment it seemed to work as one arm did indeed press itself to a wound she created but, as she quickly found out, the laceration was too shallow causing the blood to stop flowing quickly. Apparently an enhanced healing ability was another ability of the Hulk's and one that both worked for her as well as against her in this scenario. While it did mean she need not hold back as much against the large, transformed human, it also meant that she would have to work harder to keep the brute's attention.

"This way, senator!" came the voice of one of the men that had been standing near Kinsey and was obviously his bodyguard.

"I know, you fool!" growled Kinsey as he moved to leave the area swiftly.

"RAGH! Old Man not escape Hulk!" Hulk yelled, attempting to resume his pursuit of Kinsey, "Hulk turn Old Man into mush for hurting friend!"

_It is_ _as I suspected. Kinsey somehow managed to harm Void, provoking a high level of anger in Xander, resulting in a transformation into the Hulk._ She thought as she began focusing her efforts on the major ligaments in the strong man's legs, _While I can understand the young man's reaction, I cannot permit him to 'smash' the senator. It would only complicate matters further._

Indeed, based on the information she and Cole had collected thus, far the Hulk had yet to kill anyone during his past manifestations. In response to this, the law enforcement community and indeed the Justice League were more inclined towards pursuing apprehension of their target rather than termination. However, if Xander began to leave dead bodies behind him, his punishment would only grow harsher until those in power would decide that only death would be acceptable. That and… Xander would likely become suicidal should the weight of the deaths he caused become too much for him to bear. While she could not say she knew him as well as Grifter or any of her Coda sisters, she recognized enough personality traits in him to guess that he would react poorly to having the blood of innocents on his hands. She could not allow that to happen. It would be a stain on her honor as a warrior to allow an innocent life to be shattered in such a manner.

Seeing a massive fist coming diagonally from above, she leapt to the side and barely managed to avoid a blow that shattered the street five feet around the impact point.

"Zealot! Get clear!" Came Grifter's voice from the direction of the damaged club.

Following her ally's request, she leapt as far backwards as she could before re-evaluating the situation. Crossing the thirty yard mark to the Hulk was Cole, Void and unexpectedly two identical young women clad in T-Shirts and bikini bottoms but nothing else. She could only speculate that they were employees of the club where the commotion had begun. Why her comrade was bringing them along with Void was a mystery but it was one she could not spend much time contemplating considering the present situation.

Watching as Void levitated herself into the Hulk's field of vision before setting herself down, she could immediately tell that the jade giant recognized her but the anger on his face was not decreasing as swiftly as it had after the battle in the construction site. Had the Hulk been provoked too much by Kinsey and then by her to release his rage like before? Possible. Rage was a powerful emotion and the deeper one sunk into its depths the harder it was to escape its clutches.

"Please! Calm down, Hulk." Void said using her disguise's voice, "I'm alright. The Twins are okay as well. It's over."

These words helped increase the speed at which the man of muscle stepped away from his rage but, by her estimation, it needed to be sped up even further. It had now been between fifteen and twenty minutes since the Hulk had likely emerged and, if they did not leave the city soon, their pursuers would swoop down on them, blocking their retreat.

"That's right, Big Guy," spoke one of the unknown women who'd accompanied Void. "We're safe now. You chased that mean old man away. Time to chillax, ya know?"

With those words she took one of his large hands in both of her own and smiled gratefully at him. It was with some surprise that that simple act of gratitude seemed to cause the anger to fall away even faster than Void's presence or words had. Nevertheless, as the Hulk's form began to shrink, she chose to see it as a positive development since it would allow them to leave the area that much sooner. As green became tan and tall became average, gone was the Hulk only to have one Alexander Harris standing on wobbly legs in a pair of badly stretched pants.

Pants that, without warning, dropped to the ground since they no longer fit the young man.

"Hoo-boy!" Said Cole as he quickly turned away from the sight.

"Oh my!" gasped Void as she mimicked typical shy teenage girl behavior so as to not reveal the truth.

"Mmmmm, yummy!" Spoke the young woman to the left of Void.

"MEGAN!" Exclaimed the young twin to the right of Void.

"What? It's big with the potential to get bigger." Megan said with mock innocence before a playful smile blossomed on her face, "Besides it's not often I meet a guy who can turn into my favorite shade of green."

This only caused her twin to roll her eyes in exasperation and get a muffled chuckle from Cole.

"As amusing as this discussion is, might I suggest we relocate to a more private location?" She asked rhetorically as her ears began to pick up on the sound of police sirens growing louder in the air, "I believe we would all prefer not to spend the rest of the evening answering questions at the local police station."

"If that's the case then follow me. We can hide at Cessily's place." Suggested the unnamed twin, pointing in the direction of their possible destination, "It's not far from here."

Looking at Cole, she gave a cautious nod, indicating that they should take the young woman up on her offer. They were too far away from their own hotel room to make it before the police began to flood the streets looking for the Hulk and, while they could use Voids portal ability, she did not wish to leave more information for their pursuers to find.

When Grifter nodded back, she turned to the twins and said, "Very well. Lead the way."

With those words and Void helping Xander along after pulling his pants up, they disappeared into the night, hopefully beyond the reach of those who sought to capture them.

_**Two Hours Later, Long Island, New York, A Private Estate**_

"…and the scene here in Georgetown remains in a state of confusion and fear as the monster known only as the Hulk has once again made its presence known." Spoke the reporter on his big screen television, "This time the creature struck the local strip club known as 'The Hot Spot' where it attacked Senator Robert Kinsey, seriously injuring the man and his bodyguards. We have no word yet on the Senator's condition. The entire Georgetown police force has been ordered to search the city for the monster and, just moments ago, I received a report that the local national guard will be joining them in two and a half hours…"

That was all that he cared to hear as he switched off the TV and got off his expensive leather sofa before moving to the far side of the room. He had hoped that there might be something useful in the newscast that he could pass along to WickedWitch, also known as one Willow Rosenberg, but it was just more of the same media hype. No clues as to where her friend might be or any sign that things might take a turn for the better. As he began to rearrange the piece of artwork hanging on the far wall of the room, he wondered if there were any assets he could make use of to confuse the pursuers long enough for Alexander Harris to get away. One of the benefits of being the heir to a big time business is that through your parents you had access to quite a few friends in high places. There was always someone somewhere looking to gain the favor of the next top dog of a company of the Big Five. Sadly this idea was soon crushed when he realized who the cops and military men would turn to for the weapons needed to catch or kill the Hulk. If his father chose to become directly involved, and he had a feeling that he would, there would be no way he could influence events without his father becoming aware of it.

That would be **bad**.

While he wouldn't say that he and his father hated each other, the times when they got along were rare with his father either being away on business or being disappointed in his rate of progress. After all, heaven forbid that any son of **his** be anything less than a prodigy in the field of science with the potential to become brilliant businessman. Still… there were enough good memories and positive feelings between the two of them to keep things from becoming too unpleasant.

_Still, like fine wine, father-son bonding time is best taken in moderation._ He thought as he slid the final component of the piece of art into place.

As his arm dropped to his side a barely audible series of clicks and electronic humming whispered in the air and, within seconds, the wall before him began to slide to the left, revealing a hidden elevator. One of the positive things about his father's frequent business trips was that he could be gone for a month, six months and even once he was absent for a full year. That was plenty of time to discreetly hire some carpenters, engineers and electricians, among others, to make some 'minor' additions to the family mansion. True, he'd been forced to go without Mina's delicate touch for a month but it'd been worth it to have his own private work area to work his ideas out in. As far as he knew, his father was still in the dark about its existence since he had made sure that the security cameras in the room always switched off when he began to move the pieces of the artwork. There would be a gap in the security footage but only twenty seconds at most so, unless someone was paying serious attention to what they were looking at, they'd be clueless as to his little secret.

Stepping into the elevator, he watched as the door closed and the box began to automatically descend towards its only destination but this was only on the edge of his thoughts. His focus right now was on the only other possible way in which he could help Willow's friend without letting anyone know who was responsible. It had been a pet project of his ever since he'd stepped into the finished workshop, something he'd planned to impress his father with when it was finished, but now it would serve another purpose.

As the box came to a stop and the doors slid to the side, lights began to flicker on one by one along with the various electronics installed alongside them.

"Welcome back, sir." Spoke a British voice from the speakers arranged throughout the room.

"Thanks, Jarvis. How are those calculations coming?" he asked as he stepped onto a platform in the center of the room that was lit from below, surrounding him in light.

"Almost complete sir. The should be ready for implementation within three standard days." Replied the bodiless voice as consoles of hard light began to form around him.

"Perfect. I should be just about ready to slide them into place by then." He stated tapping away at the buttons on the consoles like a master pianist.

One by one the files he desired began to appear on the various screens mounted on the wall with him making additions as the minutes ticked by. At the moment all he was doing was crafting the software that would make it more than a six and a half foot tall metallic statue. He'd wanted to craft it out the most durable metal on the market but, sadly, both Vibranium and Adamantium cost a small fortune and would have set off alarms all over his father finance department. That wouldn't do since he wanted it to be a surprise, so instead he'd used a gold-titanium alloy and, thus far, he had not been disappointed by the data Jarvis was showing him on it. With the rest of the hardware beneath it, all of it of his own design, and the software he was days away from being finishing, he had a feeling his invention would be strong enough to duke it out with any member of the Justice League.

Even Superman.

_Just stay out of trouble for a few more days, Xander._ He thought as he worked to complete his the final series of sub-routines, _Stay safe until then and you'll have one more ally in your corner._


	8. Hide and Seek

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I write because it's fun and because there are those who like reading my work.

_**The Skies Above Georgetown, The Batwing, Three Hours Later, Batman's POV**_

"Any luck?" he asked as he continued to fly over the city where the Hulk had been last sighted.

"None. What security cameras the club had were destroyed in the fight," Superman replied over the earpiece com-link. "They're about a third of the way through checking the traffic cameras in the immediate area but so far nothing that could lead us to the Hulk."

"With allies such as The Grifter and Zealot on his side, I'm not surprised that they're proving hard to track down," he stated without missing a thing on his sensor monitor. "What about our other search?"

There was a pause and he knew instantly why Clark wasn't answering immediately.

When they'd heard that the Hulk had appeared again, they'd immediately gathered a team and transported to Georgetown to confront him. Unfortunately the new restrictions placed upon the League by the various governments of the world had slowed them down just enough that they arrived too late. Now they were working with the local authorities as well as the newly-arrived state troopers to locate the Hulk and his accomplices before they could leave the city. He along with Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate and Captain Marvel were patrolling the city via the air while Vixen, Dr. Light, Hawk and Dove were conducting a search from the ground.

The final member of the team, though, was hovering just out of sight of the employees of the night club, secretly scanning their minds for clues to the location of the jade giant.

_I am almost done my examination. It has taken some time to do so without being noticed,_ came the voice of J'onn J'ones. _Most of the employees fled the moment the Hulk appeared however I believe I may have learned something useful. Give me a moment._

It was barely there but he could 'hear' the discomfort in the Martian's voice concerning what he was doing. Invading the minds of innocent civilians didn't set well with the shape shifter but the point had been made and the telepath had reluctantly agreed to do as asked. It wasn't a request he'd made lightly but the Hulk needed to be stopped before someone got killed and that meant locating him while he was in his human form and apprehending him before he could transform. To make that happen, they had to locate Xander Harris without either him or his allies realizing that they'd been found. The quickest way of doing that would be to search the minds of those that had been present at the club to see if anyone had seen where he'd gone. If they had at least a direction, they could focus their efforts there rather than aimlessly wandering around the city.

_I have it. The three we seek were last seen fleeing with two of the club's employees leading the way.~_Thought J'onn into the minds of his allies. _They are referred to as the Voodoo Twins in the club. It is likely that they led Xander Harris and his allies to a place of safety. They were last seen heading east._

"That will narrow the search," he said before opening a channel to all of the Leaguers in town. "This is Batman. Focus your search on the areas east of the club. Harris was last seen in the company of two of the club employees. Focus on residential areas in that direction including apartment buildings."

The others acknowledged the information and presumably were already making their way to the correct area of town. He himself altered the direction the Batwing's course to take him there himself before putting it on autopilot while he accessed the Batcomputer he had installed beneath the local branch of Wayne Enterprises. With skill born of many years of practice he began to do research of the 'Voodoo Twins', starting with general information and then expanding to known associates. The first thing he discovered was that the two performers weren't actually sisters but that seemed rather odd considering they looked identical in virtually all of the pictures. Then he remembered that the vast majority of the employees at the club were either meta-humans or mutants, so it was possible that one of them possessed an ability that allowed them to appear as someone else. Going further into their respective backgrounds, he determined that it was Priscilla Kitaen who was the true owner of her appearance with Megan Morse being the pretender. Ms. Kitaen's history he was able to backtrack all the way to her home town of Missoula, Montana while Miss Morse's background immediately raised some red flags in his mind.

_~The files are thorough but it's a little __**too**__ convenient that everyone who supposedly knew her before she came to Georgetown is either dead or missing,_ he thought after running a search on Ms. Morse's associates. _A false identity. Unfortunately with the ability to change her appearance it will be almost impossible to find out who she really is._

If he had a week of time to devote to uncovering the truth and at least three first person encounters with the young woman, he could probably find the truth but he didn't have that sort of time.

Perhaps after the Hulk aka Xander Harris was in custody he'd spend some time looking into it. After all, only those with something to hide would work so hard to create a new identity for themselves.

It was just as he was activating an automated background check on Ms. Morse that the Batcomputer notified him that he had found a match to the search parameters he'd entered a few moments ago. It appeared that the Voodoo Twins had a friend who just so happened to live in the area east of the club where they all worked: Cessily Kincaid. A quick background check on her didn't reveal anything of note so he immediately brought up the young woman's address and entered it into the Batwing's navigational systems. While it was possible that Harris and his allies had been led someplace else, Ms. Kincaid could at least provide him with a few leads as far as where to look.

It only took a few minutes for the apartment building specified in the address to come into sight but it was as he began to look for a place to set down that his eyes picked up movement off to the left. Turning his head it took him a moment to pick out the dark black chopper making its way through the air but what caused him to give it more attention was that it appeared to be going to the same address as him. Using the external cameras, he zoomed in on the helicopter and began looking for anything to identify who it belonged to so he could discern its intentions. Stubbornly though there were no **obvious** markings on the outside so it was safe to say that the owner was smart enough to keep their identity safe from casual observers.

Fortunately he was anything **but** casual so he looked deeper and took each component of the aircraft into account.

While there were civilian models of helicopter that matched the appearance of the one he was looking at, his keen eyes and enhanced video imagery revealed that there was light armor plating on it. That would imply either privately owned security force or military personnel who were doing their best not to be noticed by either friend or foe. Looking to the sensors on the Batplane, though, pretty much clinched the identity of the unknown party as being military because, as far as the machine was concerned, the chopper wasn't there. That implied some pretty impressive stealth hardware and since as Bruce Wayne he knew of no company with technology to rival what he had installed in the Batplane, that meant military. The question then became: who in the military would prefer to attempt capture of the Hulk covertly rather than jointly with the state troopers and local law enforcement officials?

The answer came to him less than second later: General Ross.

The moment that the Hulk had been sighted in Georgetown, he'd anticipated Ross' arrival and predicted that the military man would attempt to seize control of the entire operation. The man had a history of being quite stubborn when it came to getting what he wanted and considering the amount of effort the General had expended on Harris so far it was unlikely that the man would take no for an answer. It had therefore come as a surprise when no one other than the standard state troopers arrived but he'd still kept an eye out for members of Ross' command in the crowd.

_If it is Ross then he must be acting on his own rather than with the authority of the United States military,_ he thought as he set down the Batplane on the first acceptable landing spot he could find. _He must be trying to minimize the potential fallout if his capture strategy doesn't pan out._

Exiting the aircraft, he was unsurprised to see three armored personnel vehicles rolling down the street below just over the speed limit. They looked to be clad in the same sort of armor plating and stealth gear as the chopper, immediately causing him to link the two groups together. It made sense that Ross would put together a ground team to work with the helicopter in capturing Alexander Harris, especially since it was likely that Zealot and Grifter would block their efforts. Unfortunately, in a confrontation between the two parties there existed a strong possibility of civilians being put in danger, especially if Ross failed to neutralize Harris before the young man could change into the Hulk.

"This is Batman to all Justice Leaguers in Georgetown," he said after opening a communications channel to his allies. "I've located Harris' most likely position. Unfortunately it looks like an unknown party with military-level hardware has done the same. Home in on my location and get here fast. We're going to have to work quickly to keep things from dissolving into chaos."

"We're on our way," came Hawkgirl's voice with the rest of the Leaguer's in town saying the same.

With that done he fired a grapple line and began to make his way to the apartment complex as quickly as he could. He didn't know what Ross had in mind but he very much doubted that there'd be much subtlety involved since, according to the military man's file, Thunderbolt was a firm believer in taking the offensive from the start.

He was proven right a moment later when the chopper fired some sort of missile at the third floor of the apartment complex.

_**The Apartment of Cessily Kincaid, Twenty Minutes Earlier, Xander's POV**_

Conscious came slowly butn as soon as he was conscious enough for it, he began to experience a feeling that he'd be better off staying unconscious. Unfortunately he was the sort that generally wanted to know **why** it was best if he remained unconscious so, ignoring the feeling, he rose up to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he could see a normal ceiling and he could tell that the lights were on but there was a large shape that hadn't quite come into focus yet taking up a large part of his vision. It was a mix of bronze, purple and black but he couldn't quite think of anything that matched that color combo. Only when his eyes finally focused did everything finally become clear and he could see that the large shape in his vision was actually one of the Voodoo Girls from the club. He didn't know which one since he didn't recall the guy introducing them giving individual names to each girl but at the moment that wasn't important.

Nope.

The thing that pretty much had his attention at the moment was the fact that, based on what his eyes were telling him, she was only wearing a flimsy purple half-tank top without a bra underneath, if his eyes were seeing straight.

"See anything you like handsome?" asked the young woman in a sexy voice with a playful wink added in at the end of the question.

"Um…well…I…er…" he replied, uncertain as to how to properly respond to the question.

That and he was suddenly having a very hard time thinking straight.

"If he's awake, Megan, then give him some room," came a voice he peripherally recognized as belonging to the liquid metal girl from 'The Hot Spot'.

"But I think he likes where I am right now." Megan said with a bit of humor as she tried to resist the effort to move her away.

While his libido was saying 'yes I do', the more rational part of his mind was telling him that it'd be in his best interest to move away. He recalled quite clearly how the green light had begun to creep into his vision at the club when he started getting all hot and bothered by the performance the Twins were putting on. The last thing he needed was to go all green and mean so, with a little less grace then he would've liked, he snaked down the couch he'd been on, got to his feet and got a safe distance away. This turned out to be both a good and a bad move since he found out then that Megan was wearing clingy purple hot pants along with her flimsy half-tank top. Needless to say that they did not leave a great deal to the imagination. Fortunately, though, since he was standing, he could quickly do an about face and direct his eyes someplace safer like the picture hanging on the wall.

"I'd say he thinks differently," the redhead deadpanned from somewhere behind him and to his left.

"Oh, he's just shy! I'm betting he's never been with a **real** woman before." Megan said, sounding like she wasn't about to give up just yet.

"And I suppose you plan on changing that?" asked the metal girl with a touch of humor.

"Hmmmm… maybe after dinner and a movie," Megan said, taking her playfulness down by half. "After all, half the fun of the act is the foreplay plus I'd probably scare him off if I insisted we go straight to the main event."

It was then that he heard one of the doors to the adjoining rooms open and when he turned to look he saw Zealot coming out looking like she'd borrowed some clothes from the Twins or maybe the redhead. He was a little surprised that it was red rather than the shade of purple that the Voodoo girls but it was definitely cut in such a way to show off the wearer's figure and snare the interest of any male who saw the woman who had it on. This was distinctly different than what Zealot usually wore since the woman was nothing if not warrior through and through, so all the clothes he'd seen her in up until this point had been practical in nature. They'd been chosen for how they could serve, or at least not hinder, her in battle and for how many weapons she could conceal beneath them.

_In this case, though, she's not going to be able to hide anything,_ he thought looking at the form fitting clothes the white haired warrior woman was wearing. _Not without a coat of some kind._

"How do you feel, Alexander?" Zannah asked professionally after giving Megan a light glare.

"Fine I guess. Why do you-?" he asked before taking notice of several things that didn't mesh together.

The first thing that didn't mesh was the fact that he couldn't recall how he'd gotten to the apartment but he just presumed that something had happened to knock him unconscious. With that premise in mind, he surfed through his memories trying to locate his last moments of consciousness so he could better understand his current predicament. It wasn't long before he remembered the club, trying to stop Kinsey from further harassing the Voodoo Twins and the green light he failed to hold back.

"Oh, god… it happened again." He said in shock as he dropped to his knees.

Looking down at himself, he found further evidence to support the conclusion his mind had jumped to when he saw clothes that he'd not been wearing last time he was conscious. Instead he was wearing baggy purple sweatpants and a tank top that was definitely made for a girl's body considering how tight it was. It was then though that a rather irrational thought came to him and he looked over at Zealot with a questioning raised eyebrow.

"Grifter was the one who changed you if you're wondering." Zannah stated, quickly discerning the question just like he'd expected.

He let out a sigh of relief at that.

"It wouldn't have really mattered, Hot Stuff," Megan said sitting down on the vacated couch with a saucy smile on her face. "We all got an eyeful back at the club after you changed back to normal. Gotta say, I'm impressed!"

It didn't take a rocket scientist for him to figure out what she meant by that and, in under a second, he was blushing redder than Willow's hair while at the same time wishing he'd spontaneously wink out of existence. Naturally this was when Cole, Void and the other half of the Voodoo Twins walked in the door with plastic bags in their hands. All three of them took notice of the atmosphere in the apartment fairly quickly but each had a rather unique reaction to it.

"MEGAN!" Priscilla exclaimed, looking with anger as well as exasperation at her partner.

Cole, of course, did a piss poor job of concealing his amusement as his chuckles were loud enough for everyone to hear and the grin was only partially covered by the man's hand.

Male solidarity was most definitely dead.

Void, at least he figured it was her, simply took in the scene with honest interest. It was this that pretty much clinched the identity of the dark haired and bronze skinned version of the sentient computer but he was finding her scrutiny a bit… uncomfortable.

"If you're done getting your yuks, can someone please tell me what happened?"

"Do you recall attempting to stop Senator Kinsey from harassing Ms. Kitaen and Ms. Morse?" Void asked as she walked to his side.

"Yeah. I went over to try and stop him and he nailed me with a stun gun," he replied as he watched the memories go by in his mind. "He started to smack the both of us around and then… and then…"

"And then you changed into a lean, mean, green machine!" Megan finished for him, sounding like she'd loved that particular part of the story.

Unfortunately for her he hated that particular part of the story.

In fact it was only his desire to keep it from happening again that allowed him to keep his anger at his own failure in check. He had worked **so** hard since the day that he'd learned the truth of his 'condition', to keep his emotions under control so that **thing** would never come out again. Every single day since then he'd gone through the exercises and methods of control that Zealot had taught him. He had almost gotten to the point where he could safely say that he'd managed to master the basics of what she'd taught him and could soon go onto the more difficult ones.

_Guess it's back to the drawing board._ He thought as his anger gave way to feelings of failure.

"Do not be discouraged, Alexander. Your progress in your lessons has been… satisfactory," Zealot said with an odd comforting tone of voice. "You could not have predicted what happened at the club."

"Doesn't change the fact that I screwed up," he said bitterly while making a mental note to double the effort he put into his training.

"Don't worry. According to the news no one was seriously hurt and I'm pretty sure the club has insurance that covers the damages," Cole said, trying to make things less bad then some thought they might be.

"It is. With so many girls and guys with powers on the payroll, the boss lady made sure that she'd be covered for any 'accidents'." Megan said, for once not flirting with her new person of interest.

"See it's not so—DOWN!" Cole yelled after looking in the direction of the balcony.

Almost as one, every person in the room, himself included, dropped to the floor and it was a good thing that they did because something came crashing through the glass doors that led to the balcony and embedded itself in the wall opposite the balcony. For a few seconds he couldn't tell what it was with all the smoke that was in the air but, when the air cleared enough, he could make out a cylindrical object with the end flared out with wings. His mind automatically identified it as a missile of some kind and the remnants of his soldier personae agreed but what bothered him was the fact that it hadn't exploded on impact. Most missiles were rigged to do that and the people who used such weapons rarely fired off a dud by accident since such incidents often cost people their lives. It was only when he saw panels flip open that he realized that blowing stuff up wasn't the purpose of this missile. Its purpose was to deliver a payload of something right into the enemy's midst with such speed and force that those within ten feet were almost certainly going down.

That was about all the thinking he could do because with a mass expulsion of air three things hit him with the pain of three needles.

Then he knew nothing but the incoherent haze of chemically induced unconsciousness.

_**Void's POV**_

_This, as Xander would say, is __**not**__ of the good._ Void thought once she was certain that the missile embedded in the wall wouldn't dispense any more unpleasant surprises.

Immediately she began to move about the room checking on the status of the others and, fortunately, two of them saved her the trouble by shakily getting to their feet. Of the people who had been in the room only she, Ms. Kincaid and Ms. Morse were still conscious enough to move about under their own power. Kneeling down by Xander's side, she plucked the source of the problem out of his arm and, using what she could of her abilities, ran an analysis. It was an advanced form of tranquilizer dart, advanced when compared to the rest of human technology that is, and the substance inside was quite potent. Placing a hand on her friend's body she felt… relief when she found that, while he would not regain consciousness anytime soon, he was not in any danger despite being hit with three of the darts. It was interesting because, according to the information she'd acquired, one of the reasons why tranquilizer guns never quite made it into the less than lethal arsenal of the police was due to the variance between each individual. What could successfully render one perpetrator unconscious may only slow down another and risking a second dart could lead to the death of the criminal.

_Whoever is behind this either has precise knowledge of the biochemistry of everyone in the room or a compound has finally been developed that can affect all subjects equally._ She thought before turning to face the only other conscious people in the room, _Either way, it would be in our best interests to vacate the area immediately._

"What happened? I—Pris!" Megan exclaimed before rushing to her fellow dancer's side.

"Do not worry. If Xander is any indication, the tranquilizer is non-lethal," she stated as she went over to examine Zealot. "However it does not appear as though they will be regaining consciousness anytime soon. I suggest we relocate elsewhere as there is a good chance that there will be a follow up force arriving shortly."

"'Follow up force'? What the hell is going on?" Cessily asked, clearly not liking how things were escalating.

"I do not have time to go into the full story. The brief summary would be that Xander is being pursued by both the Justice League and a portion of the United States military for his actions as the Hulk," she replied as she threw Zealot over her shoulder and then did the same to Xander. "Given the tools being employed, I believe it is safe to say that it is not the Justice League who fired the missile."

"And you didn't think to tell us this until now **why!**" Asked Cessily angrily as she no doubt thought she'd simply been helping a fellow teenager with powers not a fugitive.

"We did not anticipate the events at The Hot Spot. Even after we came here it was our intent to leave as soon as Xander was able to travel. I apologize for bringing this trouble to your home. If I leave with Xander and Zealot now, I predict a seventy-nine percent chance that the majority of our pursuers will follow. It is doubtful that they will do more than question you about your involvement. Answer them truthfully and no further harm should befall you."

"Are you kidding me! Whether you leave or not there's no way my landlord is going to let me stay here after this!" Cessily said, only getting more aggravated. "Do you know how hard I had to work to get the guy to give me this apartment? You owe me and I'm not letting you out of my sight until I'm settled into a place just as good as this one! Let's go!"

With those words Ms. Kincaid picked up both Grifter as well as Priscilla with her elongated liquid metal arms before placing them on her shoulders. Seeing this, she immediately headed for the apartment door and, using her techno-telekinesis, blew it off its hinges so she wouldn't have to put down one of her allies to open it the normal way. Her audio sensors informed her that both Ms. Kincaid and Ms. Morse were right behind her so she didn't bother confirming this with her optics. Bringing up the basic map of the building that she'd seen, she led them to the emergency stairwell before once more using her powers to open it. She knew that this was the likely way that the follow up team would come but the tactical disadvantage they'd face confined to an elevator car would be even more debilitating from a strategic point of view. At least with the stairwell any armed forces would likewise be encumbered evening out the playing field somewhat, a playing field that would be set up in a few minutes if the tactical scenarios she'd run so far were accurate.

They had managed to get all the way to the second floor before the first man dressed in black combat fatigues appeared armed with an array of deadly looking hardware. Immediately she switched her techno-telekinesis from offensive to defensive and used it to create a barrier to protect them from attack. The attack wasn't long in coming and soon her barrier was being assaulted by multiple high velocity projectiles and, while they were not enough on their own to break through, there was one thing they were accomplishing quite nicely; they were draining her power swiftly.

Bereft of a Kherubim spacecraft from which to draw power, she had been forced to make do with the various sources of electrical energy that existed in abundance on the planet Earth. While compatible, there was only a finite amount she could store within her own body before she would need a recharge. Sadly, deflecting and in some cases stopping the bullets was depleting the stored energy at a constant rate. She estimated that she would be able to maintain this barrier for another thirty minutes and then Ms. Morse would have three people to carry out of the building.

BOOM!

Sooner if they continued to bombard the barrier with explosives.

Fortunately Ms. Morse caught onto this as well and, in a show of strength that rivaled some of the stronger members of the Justice League, tore out the stairs they'd just used and threw them at the armed men one floor below. The men were sufficiently trained, though, not to let this unexpected sight hinder them and all made it back into the first floor hallway in time to avoid being hurt by the hurled mass of metal and concrete. Unfortunately this also had the secondary effect of blocking the entrance to the first floor hallway, but that was probably for the best since the armed men would be waiting for them. Megan also provided another means of exit when she used her superhuman strength to create a hole in the wall and, since they were just a single floor up, jumping was now an option. Once in the alleyway between the apartment complex and the building next door, she began to lead them away from the front of the complex. With luck the majority of the attacking force would be stationed out front with only a single unit of enemies existing to cover the rear.

Stopping just shy of the street behind the apartment complex, she peeked around the corner and saw what she'd expected: a single APC unit with armed men stationed around it. While the idea of perhaps commandeering the vehicle had merit, she abandoned it since there was a high probability that it had some manner of tracking device embedded in it.

That and it stood out like a sore thumb.

Nevertheless they'd need to disable it in order to ensure that there'd be no pursuit.

"There is an APC and a squad of men just around the corner. We must deal with them before we may proceed."

"Won't that just bring the ones out front down on us?" Megan asked, sounding unsure of the plan.

"If we act swiftly and leave even faster, I am confident we can escape before they arrive," she replied as her logical mind went through several tactical scenarios. "Megan, I will need you to disable the APC. You need not completely destroy it. Merely render it incapable of moving without repairs. Mercury and I will neutralize the armed men."

Both young women nodded and, after their precious unconscious comrades were placed gently on the ground, they charged around the corner to achieve their respective goals. With there being no one directly behind her, she was able to conserve energy this time by becoming intangible, rendering all human weapons useless against her. Once she was close enough, she employed recordings she'd made of Zealot fighting to enhance her own hand-to-hand fighting capabilities and began to use them to render her human foes unconscious. Due to the nature of her form, it was possible for her to move faster and hit harder than most humans, plus ability to turn intangible with a thought meant getting hit was highly unlikely. Once she was finished with her second foe, she turned to see that Ms. Kincaid had succeeded in defeating her enemies without killing them. Megan had similar success since the APC now possessed two fewer wheels and, considering the bits of metal sticking out from one end, undoing the damage would not be a swift task.

"Well done. Now let us get our friends and leave before their allies arrive," she said as she began to make her way back to the alley where Xander and the others were.

She got all of ten steps before explosions tore up the ground in front of her, forcing her to step back quite a bit. It didn't take her long for her to locate the source in the form of a black chopper that was barely making an audible hum as it hovered over them.

She'd theorized that it'd been what had fired the missile into the apartment but had thought it would've withdrawn after delivering its payload. That would have been the logical choice given the apparent desire for stealth and secrecy. Too bad humans were rarely as logical as she would sometimes prefer. Nevertheless, even with this unexpected arrival, there was still a chance for victory but speed was still the vital element to that victory. Shedding her disguise to conserve power, she flew into the sky towards the chopper, intending to download a simple program into the aircraft's systems that would both immobilize it as well as disarm it. Turning intangible, she prepared to pass through the hull when she suddenly felt herself bombarded by what for her constituted pain. It was due to this that she fell from the sky and her systems automatically defaulted her back to her solid state just before she hit the ground.

Her tertiary systems were in disarray and there were signs that her secondary systems were becoming suspect, leading her to believe that what she'd experienced was something more than a high electrical discharge. As she tried to get to her feet, to at least regroup with Megan and Cessily, she saw more armed men exiting from the very same alleyway that held Xander and the others. With movements jerky and delayed, she knew that the odds of them successfully getting away had just dropped to less than ten percent. The only reason that they did have that ten percent was because she suspected that Megan possessed more power than had been exhibited thus far. If the exotic dancer brought those unknowns to bear, there just might be a chance at victory.

It was when the group of men advancing on the last known position of the two young women were knocked to the ground that she had the first confirmation of her suspicions. Megan possessed the power of flight along with super strength and had used both to break through enemy lines with Cessily on her back. Now, if she could only pick up their unconscious allies, they could make a collective break for it. When Ms. Morse flew right past and picked her up, she began gaining altitude in a big hurry.

"What…sszk…are you…doing?" she asked while forcing her vocal processors to function.

"You're a wreck, they've got air support, we've been cut off from the others and since I'm not ready to kill to win just yet, running was the only option left." Megan replied as she leveled off and began to put distance between them and the apartment complex, "Unless you have a better plan."

She **tried** to think of a better one but with most of her systems still operating improperly she was unable to conceive of a strategy where they had a better than sixty-five percent chance of success. So it was with dismay that she shook her head in the negative.

"Didn't think so. Don't worry though." Megan said with resolve in her voice, "We'll get them back. When **we're** ready and **they** aren't."

_**Out in Front of the Apartment Complex, Major Glenn Talbot's POV**_

"We have Harris, Cash, Zealot and a civilian who was aiding them in custody sir," Talbot said into the radio of one of the APCs. "They're being loaded into the APCs and we should be gone in two minutes."

"Good, Major. With the League in the area, it's only a matter of time before they arrive," Ross said from the other end of the line. "You need to be gone before they arrive."

"Um…there may be a problem with that sir," he stated unsure of how to explain things to the General. "After units one and two took up position in front of the building… Batman showed up."

There was silence on the line and he did not like that one little bit since it meant his C.O was thinking and he had a feeling he would not like the conclusion old Thunderbolt came to. It was no secret that, ever since the incident at the Nevada base, Ross had been running those under his command ragged trying to locate Harris. The general was convinced that if they could capture the kid and put him under a microscope, they could figure out a way to create an entire platoon of Hulk's. There were whispers, of course, that Ross had caught some serious flak for the botched test in the desert and was trying to use the possibilities represented by the Hulk to salvage the situation. Given the manner he'd received his current orders in and the level of covertness being employed, he was willing to bet that the brass were giving Ross unofficial backing but would abandon him in a second if things went south.

He wasn't sure yet if Batman's interference would constitute things going south.

"And his current status?" Ross asked, betraying nothing of what was currently going on in his head.

"Using sonic generators and paralytic gas, we have him contained for the time being," he replied, trying to phrase things just right. "Once we have the prisoners loaded, we'll set the incendiary charges in them and leave. There will be nothing for the Justice League to find that can be traced back."

Silence reigned once more but fortunately only for half as much time as before.

"Very well. Inform me when you've successfully arrived at the facility." Ross said before the connection was severed.

While not what he'd like, he could hardly throw a fuss over it. Even though precautions had been taken to ensure that Batman wouldn't have a lot to work with after they'd left, his very knowledge of their presence was a black mark on the overall mission. They were supposed to have gotten in, grabbed the targets and been gone long before the League even suspected that they were in town. The mission was still salvageable but only if they managed to get away without being spotted by any more members of the cape and spandex crowd. So long as they did that then they'd likely only have Gotham's defender pursuing them and, for all the man's talents, he was, by most accounts, just human. Well trained and with gadgets aplenty but human nonetheless so, with a little work, they could make a facility secure from even him.

Watching as the men under his command carried the targets towards the waiting open doors of the APCs, he was tempted to tell them to double time it but held his tongue. All of them were good at what they did and didn't need anyone making the present situation any worse than it already was by yelling at them. Nevertheless, he found himself checking the skies for any sign that other Justice League members were approaching. He was sure that Batman had likely informed his comrades of Harris' location before initiating hostilities but how quickly they would arrive was debatable. Still, given the importance of the situation, he'd decided to believe in the worst case scenario and that had the Bat's allies arriving within the next three minutes. If everything went according to the timetable he had worked out inside his head, they'd be gone soon with a whole minute to spare with nothing left behind that could be analyzed.

As both The Grifter and Zealot were successfully loaded onto the APCs, he moved to get into the passenger side of the lead one when the sound of something flapping in the breeze caused him to turn back around. His eyes widened as he spotted the winged form of Hawkgirl rapidly approaching, Captain Marvel and Dr. Light falling in behind her.

Cursing his luck, he turned to where two of his men were carrying Harris' bound form and yelled, "Get Harris loaded NOW! The rest of you initiate stratagem S!"

Stratagem S was something that some of the more… paranoid members of the military had come up with just in case the Justice League actively tried to take over the world. It had been constructed methodically and thoroughly from beginning to end but had seen only partial use during the conflict between the League and Project Cadmus. Still, that had been enough for any remaining kinks to be ironed out in the stratagem and hopefully it would prove to be enough to allow part of his team to get away with Harris. The teenager was the priority at the moment with the other potential prisoners just being bonuses.

With machine-like precision, sonic generators much like the one currently keeping Batman under control were placed at prime spots, aimed at the incoming threats and activated. Contrary to what some might think, these were not precision weapons but rather they blanketed a select area with sonics designed to affect a target's sense of equilibrium while also hindering thought. While this would affect civilians within the affected area, the generators had already been cleared by the people in military R&D as having no long term effects on exposed subjects. On the flyers they were aimed at the moment, it caused them to fall from the sky and crash to the ground more than a little roughly. Fortunately he didn't hear anything that sounded like bones breaking or the wet thump of someone's skull decorating the pavement, so he felt secure in the fact that they'd likely live through this.

The second tool employed were grenade launchers modified to fire canisters of a special paralytic gas that would affect even those with superhuman immune systems. As two of his men fired them at the downed League flyers, he felt confident that the immediate threat had been dealt with. Much like Batman, the heroes with the ability to fly would find themselves quite unable to move for the next hour at least, which was more than enough time for the APC carrying Harris to get clear of the city.

At least that would have been the case had a blue and red blur not come out of nowhere to fry the sonic generators and blow away the paralytic gas. Hovering in the air not fifty feet from him was none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman. It was the absolute worst case scenario and he was finding himself lacking the necessary tactical assets needed to turn things around. When they'd initially come into town after confirming Harris' presence, the more tactically-minded among them had predicted rather low odds that the more powerful members of the League would be present. Analyzing news broadcasts from around the world, they'd put forth the belief that Superman would be too busy dealing with a major earthquake overseas to become a problem in Georgetown.

Assuming he got the chance, he would give those so-called 'tactical geniuses' a piece of his mind for this FUBAR of a situation they'd landed him in.

"Give up. You can't hurt me with what you have and more League members will be here soon," Superman said with a serious tone of voice.

His mind raced as he tried to think of any weapon, any strategy, that could deter the defender of Metropolis long enough for the primary target to get away. However in the end he was forced to admit that even if they fired everything they had at the Kryptonian, the most they'd likely do is hasten their defeat and make it quite humiliating with how easy it would be. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a set of papers that Ross had given him to use in case they bumped into state trooper checkpoint. He wasn't sure if they'd work on Superman but they were only the recourse he had left.

"I'm afraid you're out of line, Superman," he said trying to sound both confident yet polite. "I have orders to take Harris and his associates into custody right here."

"If your orders are so official then why didn't you present them to my teammates at the beginning?" Superman asked, pointing out an obvious flaw in the statement.

"Part of our orders was to keep the number of people who knew of our presence in town to a minimum," he replied, hoping that the bullshit in his reply couldn't be spotted. "When your friends showed up, I determined that the best way to minimize the damage was to take them down as swiftly as possible. There's no permanent damage done to any of them and they should all be back on their feet within the hour."

"May I see those orders of yours?" Superman asked, holding out his right hand.

"Certainly," he said, handing the orders over.

Waiting, he did his best not to let his body betray the stress he was actually feeling at the moment.

"These look official but I hope you'll understand that I'll have to verify them through the League's government liaison," Superman said before reaching up to his ear to in all likelihood activate some sort of communications device.

_I hope General Ross had planned for this possibility or else calling this situation FUBAR will soon be the mother of all understatements._ He thought as he mentally began to pray to whatever deities that were listening.

_**Two Hours Later, Justice League Embassy, Washington, Superman's POV**_

"How is he?" Superman asked Doctor Hamilton as the man exited the containment area where they were holding Alexander 'Xander' Harris.

"Well enough considering the amount of tranquilizer he got introduced into his system," Hamilton replied as the only door to the containment area sealed itself behind him. "It's going to be a while before he regains consciousness and even then he's probably going to be a bit woozy."

"So he doesn't have any sort of enhance immune system or healing ability?" he asked since he'd been wondering if any of the Hulk's traits carried over into his mortal form.

"I'll need time to run a more detailed analysis to determine the full extent of his abilities but, considering the untainted samples I acquired from the scene, I can perceive no visible signs of abnormal recovery." Hamilton replied before taking his glasses off for a moment to clean them.

"Alright. Let me know when he wakes up," he said before turning around and beginning the walk to the main conference room.

As he walked, he had to frown slightly when he saw a pair of American soldiers walk past him in the other direction. After he'd contact the League's liaison, it had taken a few minutes to confirm whether or not the orders Major Talbot had given him were genuine. In the end, while they'd passed all the normal checks, there had been an undercurrent of something… suspicious about them and that was what had prompted the current compromise. It had been agreed upon by the League and the United States government that handling the issue of the Hulk would now be a joint effort all the way. As such, while the embassy had more than enough security of its own, Talbot's men, along with a few more, were now patrolling the hallways with most of them concentrated in the hallways around the containment area. All of them were armed and some of the gear he recognized from the time that he'd helped Huntress rescue The Question from Cadmus. He wasn't overly impressed with the hardware having faced it before and he didn't think that they'd be effective if the Hulk became an issue but, seeing as how they managed to cause Bruce problems, they were definitely well trained.

_Batman's going to be going over what happened for weeks trying to come up with a way to make sure it didn't happen again. _He thought, knowing how much it'd likely bothered his friend that he'd been taken down like he had.

While he was sure that the caped crusader wouldn't let it show or affect his work, it wasn't in the man's nature to let a defeat, however minor, go by without analyzing it. If the same or a similar situation happened again, he had no doubt that the dark knight would emerge victorious.

It only took a few minutes to reach the conference room and, when the door opened, he saw that the founding members of the League along with some of those that had partaken in the search of Georgetown.

"What did Dr. Hamilton have to say?" Batman asked, sounding fully recovered from the effects of the paralytic gas.

"Mr. Harris will be out for a while but isn't in any danger from the tranquilizers he was hit with," he replied as he took his seat at the head of the table. "Hamilton said he'd need more time in order to find out more."

A nod was all he received from Bruce in response.

"Are we sure this kid is the Hulk?" Hawkgirl asked, sounding skeptical about the conclusions that had been made thus far. "I mean, there is a certain resemblance but the size difference is a bit much."

"There is no doubt in my mind that he is the Hulk," Dr. Fate said from his place at the table. "The moment I saw him I could tell that he had been touched by a deity and, unless I miss my guess, I believe I know which one."

"Well don't keep us in suspense. Which goddess is smiling on this kid?" Flash asked in his usual impatient manner.

"Gaea, goddess of the Earth." Fate replied with all the serious due the reply.

This had Wonder Woman gasping in surprise while the others merely looked surprised. He could understand that because, while he did not possess any more knowledge of mythology than any other university graduate, it was hard not to know one of the most powerful goddesses ever recorded. However he was curious about Diana's response since it looked to him as though her surprise had a little something extra at its source.

"Do you know something, Diana?"

"A legend, one that my mother told me when I was very little," Wonder Woman replied as she tried to recall the tale. "In the distant past, when humanity was first beginning to leave their mark on the world, Gaea was much more active and almost interacted with the human race as much as the other gods and goddesses. However, unlike the other deities, the Earth goddess took a more active role in guiding humanity and protecting it. One of the measures she took was to empower five individuals with a fragment of her power. They were called the Guardians of Gaea."

"Were they all like the Hulk?" Batman asked while he no doubt filed every fact away for later research.

"Based on what I can recall of my mother's stories, no," Diana replied with a shake of her head. "In terms of superhuman strength they weren't much stronger than Steel in his armor and the rest of their abilities were pretty much at the same level."

Bruce nodded at that.

"For many generations the Guardians of Gaea watched over the human race and helped them both in their daily lives as well as when various threats endangered their existence," the princess of Themyscira said as she continued telling her tale. "Like all things, change eventually occurred when one of the Guardians began to take a more direct role in the development of the humans that lived in his region of the world. Normally a Guardian would wait until contacted by a village or person before taking action but this one Guardian instead chose to directly influence matters by becoming part of a village's governing council. It seemed harmless at first so none of the other Guardians paid it much attention.

"It was only when the lone Guardian declared himself king of his part of the world that trouble began to brew. His comrades tried to persuade him to step down from the role, insisting that their purpose was merely to protect and offer advice rather than rule," Wonder Woman said as the tale took a more dire tone. "The Guardian King disagreed, stating that leaving humanity to its own devices posed just as much a threat to the human race as any demon. He believed that since they were imbued with the power of Gaea, that they were more suited to rule their less fortunate kin than anyone else and therefore refused to step down as king.

"In a surprising act of compromise, though, he agreed to allow one of his comrades to come into his kingdom once a year to ensure that all was well," Diana said with a look that implied she was imagining how it must have been back then. "The others grudgingly accepted and for a few decades no more was said… until one day the Guardian King's army invaded the nearest kingdom and took it over in less than a month. The other Guardians were naturally angered by this but their foul temper paled in comparison to Gaea's, who up until then had been content to let her champions handle things themselves.

"She confronted the rogue Guardian and, when he refused to return to the purpose she'd originally intended for him, she attempted to take back the power she had given him," Wonder Woman said with a concerned look on her face.

"What do you mean 'tried'?" Green Lantern, who was taking the tale about as well as the rest of them, asked, "I might not be a magic expert like Dr. Fate but I know enough that Gaea shouldn't have had any trouble turning that tyrant back into a normal human."

"Under normal circumstances, no, however, unbeknownst to all, the Guardian King had employed the darkest of magicks to ensure that the power he possessed could not be removed," Diana replied, steepling her fingers in front of her. "While it was true that if Gaea used her full might she could depower him, doing so would affect the entire planet with serious consequences. With direct action proving too hazardous, she charged the remaining Guardians with slaying their former comrade and restoring the natural order of things.

"As you might expect, war broke out and, while the Guardians loyal to Gaea tried to fight their former ally by themselves without involving the humans under their charge, it did not work out. What the Guardian King's army lacked in brute force they more than made up for in numbers. There were also many humans who desired to fight for their own reasons, ranging from the loss of loved ones to wishing to repay the Guardians for a past act of kindness. War raged for fifteen straight years and, by the end, it looked as though victory was within reach for Gaea's loyal Guardians."

"I can hear a 'but' moment coming." Flash said before taking a sip out of his pop can.

"Indeed. In a move of desperation on the part of the Guardian King, he stole a casket belonging to one of the Old Ones, one of the Elder Demons, and fled to the northernmost tip of what today is Russia. According to what my mother told me, the traitor intended to drain the remaining demonic energy from the corpse inside and use it to give himself a decisive advantage over his enemies," Diana said, nodding at Wally's prediction. "Knowing this, the remaining benevolent Guardians marshaled as many warriors as they could within a week's time and immediately set out to stop him."

"And?" he asked after a long pause from his friend.

"And that's pretty much it. Neither the Guardians nor the army they took with them returned but neither did the traitor," Wonder Woman replied, turning her head to look at him. "Gaea retreated deep within the planet soon after and it was believed that she did so because she had lost faith in humanity and didn't want to involve herself with the human race any more than she had to."

"Indeed, in the millennia that have come and gone since then the Earth goddess has rarely done more than respond to the prayers of a select few. The fact that she has allowed another Guardian to be created in Mr. Harris is most… ominous." Dr. Fate said, adding his arcane knowledge to the discussion.

"Could the kid have gotten the power by accident?" Hawkgirl asked.

"No. For her to have given Mr. Harris as much of her power as she has, it would have had to have been a conscious and voluntary act on her part," Dr. Fate said with a shake of his helmeted head. "I fear this is an omen of things to come."

"If Gaea chose to make Alexander Harris her new Guardian then why does he act the way he does?" Batman asked before tapping a few buttons on the table to bring up information on the teenager in the containment area. "While not the smartest of teenagers, his test scores indicate that he is decidedly more intelligent than the Hulk."

"Unknown. It could be that something about the process by which he received Gaea's power has resulted in a decrease in intelligence when it's in use," Dr. Fate said, unable to come up with a better answer.

"It is more likely that she has learned from her previous experience in empowering human beings and has limited Mr. Harris' intelligence on purpose when he transforms," said the Martian Manhunter from his place at the conference table.

"Makes sense. As dumb as the Hulk is, taking over a city would be impossible for him, never mind a country," Green Lantern stated nodding at J'onn's theory.

"Doesn't mean he's not dangerous, though," Hawkgirl said, reminding them all of the previous two altercations members of the League had had with the Hulk.

Indeed he himself could vouch for the strength and destructive abilities of the Hulk since he had been one of the ones to fight him at the construction site. While the tactics and moves hadn't been anything impressive, the sheer power the jade giant possessed had been enough to knock him silly more than once. Add to the fact that no matter how hard the powerhouse was hit the Hulk kept getting back up and he found himself thankful for the reduction in intelligence. He shuddered at the thought of what the Hulk could accomplish with even an average teenager's intelligence if the person was enticed into committing acts of evil.

"Is there any way to change him back to normal?" Huntress asked, sounding like she was already thinking of possible options of their 'Hulk Dilemma'.

"Not without Gaea's consent. So long as she is determined to keep him as her champion, we can do nothing." Dr. Fate replied, sounding pessimistic about persuading Gaea to do anything.

From there the discussion opened up to everyone offering a suggestion on the topic of how to keep Alexander Harris, aka The Hulk, from continuing to be a threat to public safety. He himself remained silent but listened to everyone equally, deciding to put forth his own opinion only once the rest of them had present their opinions.

He just hoped that they would be able to come up with something workable before General Ross managed to garner enough support within the United States hovernment to seize full ownership of the matter.

_**Two Days Later, Washington DC, Early Afternoon, Willow's POV**_

_This isn't going to be easy,_ she thought to herself as she looked across the street at the Justice League Embassy, where Xander was being held.

Then again she'd known that from the very moment she'd learned that the military was on the hunt for her best friend. It'd only gotten worse, though, when the Justice League got involved and now she was faced with the daunting task of somehow saving her friend from both the military as well as the largest group of super powered beings on the planet. That was why she was doing a little reconnaissance of the embassy so she could get a better idea of what she'd be up against. The human guards would be easy enough to get by with a few choice glamour spells and a little creative computer programming would deal with most of the electronic security. The reason why it was most and not all was the simple fact that, while she was good when it came to computers, she wasn't cocky enough to think that she could beat the eggheads of the Justice League.

Not without help, anyway.

She'd tried to get in touch with AESE to see if he'd be willing to help her but her contact with him had been… sporadic over the last few days. It was almost as if he was busy working on something of his own and felt that it took priority over helping her. She was a little mad but quietly accepted that, while her need was great, it wasn't reasonable of her to expect her hack pal to drop everything when she contacted him. She'd wait as long as she could, using the time to gather all the facts she needed for her rescue attempt, but if he didn't agree to help her by show time, she'd go in alone.

Hearing the sounds of an odd engine approaching, she turned her head and, when she spotted the source, she raised the newspaper she'd been reading up a bit higher.

While the vehicle was obeying the local speed limit and traffic laws, she had her reasons for wanting to conceal her face from the driver. Watching as the Batmobile went by and entered the Justice League Embassy through the front gate, she let out a sigh of relief as she lost sight of it. She'd known from the beginning that the people after Xander would also be keeping an eye on his friends and so she'd taken some time to work up a disguise for herself. She'd have a helluva time explaining the charges on the credit card her parents had given her but it was for a good cause.

The day she'd left Sunnydale she'd immediately bought some brown hair dye to change the color of her hair and then she'd stopped at a hair salon at the first wait over on her cross country bus trip to get it all wavy and curled. However it wasn't until she'd reached the halfway point that she'd made a major leap in her disguising efforts by buying some new clothes that no one would associate with Willow Rosenberg, like a black and red tube top that showed off quite a bit of stomach and pushed her bust up a bit as well as make her a little nervous. Tight black leather pants were next with red stripes going down the sides of her legs and a set of knee high boots came next but, unlike the high heeled ones that the store owner had shown her, she'd gone with the more reasonable boots.

Buffy had already educated her on how much of a pain it was trying to run in high heels.

Adding a pair of crimson gloves on her hands just finished off the outfit, making an image that no one would ever associate with the mousy bookworm of Sunnydale High School. However, for the sake of keeping her from hyperventilating, she'd also gotten a red trench coat to cover herself up a bit and it served a secondary goal of letting her carry more things with all its pockets.

_I just hope the money I took out using the credit card holds out until me and Xander are back in Sunnydale,_ she thought as she recalled the day when a store clerk told her that the card wasn't working.

She'd known that it'd happen sooner or later because she knew that credit card companies had departments that specifically looked out for suspicious charges. Considering she'd used the card almost exclusively in Sunnydale up until a few days ago and now had made purchases spanning the country, she'd known that it would be cut off sooner or later. That was why she'd made sure to take out some cash at every stop and used said money sparingly whenever she could. She was already down to half of what she'd taken out but she was confident that she could make the rest last until she returned home with her best friend.

If not, she'd just have to use her hacking abilities to skim a little money off of some rich guy who'd probably never miss it. Someone like that Bruce Wayne guy maybe…

_Mind on the job, Rosenberg,_ she thought as she brought herself back to the task at hand. _Xander's counting on you._

She'd already managed to acquire the blueprints of the embassy since the League had used outside contractors and resources to build it, but that only gave her the basic layout of the place and she was sure that the League had made some changes since they'd moved in. She also had no clue about the internal security since the heroes hadn't so much as made a phone call to a single security firm on the east coast since the embassy's location had first been chosen. That was the main reason she wanted AESE's help because she figured between the two of them they'd be able to hack in from the outside and at least get an idea of the internal security systems. Once they had that information and combined it with the blueprints, she already had a plan could be made for breaking Xander out.

As for the actual breaking out in question, she once again wondered what she could acquire to use as the proverbial ace up her sleeve. While her hacking skills were at the right level, she was still something of an amateur when it came to the fighting part of the operation. Given that she had a hard enough time dealing with vamps fresh from their graves, she doubted that she'd be able to do anything against people with super powers. She knew she had some talent with magic but at best she was a promising amateur when compared to the likes of Dr. Fate and Zatanna, never mind the fact that most of the offensive spells she knew took time to do. Time she didn't think she'd have running through hallways being chased by members of the Justice League.

_I guess I'll have to check out that magic shop that I found out about from Giles' black book,_ she thought as she took out the slip of paper where the shop's address was written. _Maybe I'll find something there that can help._

She knew Giles would probably be upset with her for going to the shop, especially considering some of the disturbing words she'd seen written next to the address, but she had no choice. There wasn't another decent magic shop for miles and they didn't look nearly as promising as the one in Washington was indicated to be by Giles book. It had been odd to see so many contradictions in the little black book with regards to the Washington magic shop. On the one hand there were several four letter words and British swear words scrawled next to it that she wondered why the ex-Watcher hadn't simply ripped the entry out. There was also the fact that it looked like that particular page in the book had been looked at quite frequently, implying that while Giles might not like the place he still used it often enough to cause the book to open to the page naturally.

_I'll have to be careful when I go there. A person who runs a place that Giles doesn't like but still uses can't be too trustworthy. _She thought as she put the newspaper on the café table in front of her.

With her reconnaissance of the Justice League Embassy complete, she got up from her seat, left some money for the waitress and walked out of the Café to go back to her hotel room.

She had to prepare after all.

_**Long Island, New York, A Private Estate, Several Levels Below Ground, Same Time**_

"The calculations you asked for are complete, sir." Jarvis announced from the speakers in the lab.

"Good. I'm just about finished on my end as well." He said, running the gauntlet on his right arm through a series of motions while looking at the screen the metal glove was attached to. "Correction. I'm done. Start up the construction of Tetsujin version 1.0 and signal me the usual way when it's done."

"Of course, sir. The estimated time until completion is twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes." Jarvis said in his usual butler tone of voice.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he entered the elevator that would take him back up to the mansion.

As the doors to the lift closed and he felt the elevator car rise up, he thought on the developments of the past few days and hoped that everything would go smoothly. Despite his best hopes to the contrary, Willow's friend Xander had been captured by the military and only the involvement of the Justice League kept the even from being a complete downer. With the spandex crew throwing their weight around, Ross wouldn't have as much free reign as the old timer probably wanted and that could only help the situation. Unlike the military who'd stoop to just about any level to get what they wanted, the heroes stuck to a code of conduct that was almost comical if it wasn't so honorable. The group of costumed crime fighters did their best to live up to the expectations of the public when it came to being a superhero, even if those expectations came from comic books. Still, it would ensure that Xander wouldn't be mistreated or experimented on, thus severely limiting what Ross could do without getting into trouble with his superiors.

Not that old Thunderbolt wasn't already in a bit of hot water with the top brass in the military, given how his attempt to covertly acquire the Hulk hadn't gone according to plan.

Pretty much from event zero, the secret nuclear test conducted in the desert of Nevada, Ross had been placed under a great deal of pressure by his superiors and it had only gotten worse once the Hulk made his debut. Therefore it was understandable that Ross would feel compelled to do something to salvage his career, if not completely undo the damage that had been done to it. The ideal solution, of course, would be to capture the Hulk, relocate him to some hidden base, tear him apart to find out how he was so powerful and then replicate it in an army of soldiers. However, with the League involved that would be quite unlikely unless something were to happen to damage their credibility enough that the government would strip them of their say in the matter. Ross would probably try to arrange something like that if the League didn't provide him with an opening quickly enough.

As the elevator door opened to reveal the mansion's ground floor, he stepped out quickly while activating the mechanism that would automatically hide it as soon as he was fully out. While he didn't think his father was in the mansion at the moment, he couldn't afford to take the chance of his little secret being stumbled upon. If daddy dearest caught even an inkling that he was hiding something profitable from him, the old man wouldn't rest until he found the truth, exposed it and then patented it. Profitability was one of the primary things that his father looked at when it came to some new device or advancement and, while he wasn't as greedy as some C., it usually took something concrete to get him to change his plans.

Satisfied that no one had noticed his emergence from the hidden elevator, he proceeded towards the kitchen to get something to eat before heading to his room to check up on Willow's progress. Despite what his hacker friend probably thought, he hadn't completely forgotten about her and had, in a few instances, helped her own in his own covert way, like delaying the credit card company's investigation into her non-Californian usage, sending false voicemail messages to her parents as well as her friends to keep them in the dark and providing the initial distraction that allowed her to escape military surveillance in Sunnydale. The last one hadn't been easy but fortunately being the son of one of the military's primary weapons and tech suppliers had some perks.

As he entered the kitchen to fix himself a snack, he found his mood turn slightly sour when he saw that his father was indeed in the house and at the moment was making a snack himself.

"Ah, Tony! I thought you were around here somewhere," Howard said with fatherly affection. "Where've you been hiding yourself?"

"I'd tell you, Dad, but you always taught me that a proper man doesn't kiss and tell," he said with a rogue's grin on his face.

"Which one was it this time? Megan or Felicia?" Howard asked with a little sigh of disappointment in his son's habits.

"Neither. I was in the mood for something… a little more sophisticated this time," he replied, keeping his smug smile on his face.

"Well, I hope you at least tried to be discreet this time," Howard said with a bit of warning in his voice. "While it may be expected that you act like fast-driving rich kid, I don't want you going too far."

"Don't worry Dad. I'd never do anything to cause you **too** much trouble," he said with humor and honesty.

"See that you don't. Winston is still giving me the cold glare every time we meet." Howard said, sounding like he was getting tired of his associate's foul mood.

"He's still angry about that time me and Emma went off to Italy?" Tony asked, somewhat surprised that the blonde businessman was still fuming.

"Considering that you introduced her to some… questionable habits, I can understand his point of view somewhat," Howard replied as he took the plate holding his snack towards a small table nearby. "Nevertheless, I'd hoped that he'd be more professional about it. Letting one's personal life interfere with business is not how a proper businessman conducts himself."

In this case, his father definitely practiced what he preached.

Whenever the old man was anywhere on business, he'd act like the perfect businessman and never allow himself to behave differently no matter what was going on in his personal life. Only once Howard was safely behind closed doors and away from the eyes of others did he let this façade fade away to reveal the man he truly was. It was infuriating sometimes to watch his father behave so indifferently towards what happened at home when he was at the office but he'd accepted that it was a part of who he was.

_It'll be different with me though. _He thought as the discussion went on to normal father-son topics. _When I'm running the show, people will know the real me all the time and either like it or leave._

_**Somewhere in Oklahoma, Two Hours Later**_

The weather.

People joked about, cursed it and, using all the tools at their disposal, they tried to predict it so that their lives would not be interrupted. Yet the weather was not aware of this and probably wouldn't care even if it possessed the sentience needed to do so. It was above such things, beyond them, and would go about its business just like it had since the dawn of time.

There were, of course, exceptions and, as the storm clouds rolled along through the sky, blocking out the bright light of the sun, one such exception was about to make its presence known. With a boom of thunder and a crack of lightning, a bolt of electricity fell from the sky striking the empty road below it, blinding all who might have been looking for a split second with its light. When the light faded, though, the spot that had only a second ago been occupied by a massive lightning bolt was now taken up by a male figure six and a half feet tall. Clad in armor that looked to be several centuries out of date was a blonde man that had a look of strength about him. The unknown man looked about the area where he'd appeared like someone who was visiting a place he had not visited in years but still recalled with some clarity. Indeed that was the truth for he had visited this world many years ago before his father had decreed that their people no longer involve themselves in the lives of the mortals.

However that had changed when his mother stepped forth from her self-imposed seclusion to choose a champion for herself.

Due to this momentous event, his father had reopened the pathway to Midgard once more and bade him go there to meet with this new champion. To aid him should he be honorable or to stop him should his heart prove to be as black as his treacherous predecessor.

_I pray thee to be an honorable warrior, Alexander Harris,_ he thought as he took his mighty hammer from his belt and began to whirl it around. _For it would tarnish my momentous return to Midgard to be forced to fight a brother-in-arms._

Once his hammer had built up sufficient speed, he threw it into the sky and to the east while still holding onto the loop of leather attached to its pommel. Like an arrow loosed from its bow he flew into the air and, as he did so, he hoped that the gatekeeper of the Bifrost Bridge had seen true when he saw the location of Gaea's new guardian.

Midgard was a big place and it would become most tiresome to have to search all of it for the young man he sought.


	9. Schemes and Planning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever. I write because its fun and some people enjoy reading my work.

_**The Next Day, Washington, Justice League Embassy, Omega Containment Chamber, **_

_**Xander's POV**_

"So what's the drill today, Doc?" he asked in a way that had become routine over the last three days.

"We're going to try another approach in attempting to contact Gaea." Dr. Fate replied as he walked across the room to the chamber, "Hopefully this time she'll at least say something we can work with."

"Let's hope so," he said, trying to sound optimistic.

'Trying' being the operative word since, so far, the green goddess hadn't done much more than glare at Dr. Fate since their efforts to talk with her began. Still, the sorcerer had made it clear that he wanted to help and, considering his current situation, he wasn't in a position to turn it down. He was currently locked inside a huge glass container that was made up of something decidedly tougher than normal glass. Oh, it had a bed, some other furniture and some things to keep him from being bored, but there was no mistaking that he was in a cage. The cage was made of some glass-like substance that wouldn't break easily and, when he'd tried to use a chair to break through it, he'd learned about another feature of his prison cell.

Any serious attacks on the transparent barrier resulted in some very potent knockout gas being pumped through vents in the floor as well as the ceiling.

He'd woken up what he'd learned was an hour later to find three members of the Justice League standing on the outside of his cell waiting for him. It was a bit better than he'd originally thought upon finding himself in a high tech prison and so he'd done his best to be polite when they started to ask questions. He was glad that they'd chosen a less hostile Q&A method than that asshole Ross because, had they'd started to follow the 'make-him-repeat-the-story-a-thousand-times' way of getting their answers, he'd have been forced to use Zealot's techniques. After he'd finished giving them the full **detailed** explanation of that fateful night out in the Nevada desert, they'd told him that they'd do everything they could to help. It'd been then that they'd told him what they'd learned on their own while he slept and to say he'd been surprised would've been the mother of all understatements.

Gaea, goddess of the Earth, was the one responsible for turning him into the Hulk.

They'd told him the tale of the Guardians of Gaea as well as their theories as to why he got knocked into the backseat of his brain when he transformed. Part of him could see the jade woman's point of view in creating a stupid, separate personality and putting it in control of his empowered form instead of him. The rest of him, however, was pissed at her for approaching him when he wasn't thinking straight and probably would've latched onto anything that might've helped him stay alive. He also didn't like the fact that she hadn't given him full control of his Hulk form because, while he'd never claim to be a saint in how he acted, he was hardly a big bad either. Still he'd adhered to what Zealot had taught him and kept his anger to the level of whispering background noise but, if the world deity kept ignoring them, he was going to need to try something else.

After the initial meeting Dr. Fate returned periodically and visited him either to run some sort of diagnostic spell or to try another method of contacting Gaea. None of the other League members ever entered the room, though he was fairly sure they had him under surveillance through cameras and the like. It had been yesterday though that he'd learned one bit of sour news though: Ross and his army goons were helping with security at the embassy. The moment the General had been mentioned, he'd remembered his entire experience with the old man and hadn't hesitated to let Dr. Fate know what he thought of the military officer. The man of the golden helmet had taken his opinion seriously and added that Batman had similar misgivings but the guy had also said that Thunderbolt had the backing of the government. He was smart enough to read between the lines: the League would try to do the right thing but if the government forced their hand, they'd have no choice but to give in. The cape and cowl camp were only able to do what they did because they had agreements with the governments of the world allowing them to operate within their borders. With that being the case, what was one life compared to the millions of others that might be lost if that government decided to revoke the League's permission to enter their country?

With those kinds of lives in play, he couldn't bring himself to be mad about the choice they'd likely make when push became shove.

"Today we're going to try to have you be the sole contact with the spell," Dr. Fate said as he began to arrange several weird looking objects. "I will only get the communication spell started. After that it will be up to you to reach out to the one who has empowered you."

"How do I do that?" he asked, not quite sure what he'd have to do.

"Clear your mind, find the power that was not there before and then find the link between it and its owner." Dr. Fate said as he finished setting the items around the chamber, "This particular spell relies more on feeling your way to the being you wish to speak with rather than employing a more direct method."

"Gotcha. Do a farm boy Skywalker from 'A New Hope'," he said as he settled himself into a sitting position and began to feel around within him to find the power of Gaea.

He wasn't quite sure what it was **supposed** to feel like so he focused on what he could recall feeling when he'd turned into the Hulk in the past. It wasn't easy since he had to filter out things like the pain, as well as his own anger, but the more he focused on the task, the more progress he made. Peripherally he could hear Dr. Fate working his mojo and he could feel when it took affect but it was light enough a sensation that he felt reasonably confident that Gaea would barely notice it. Turning back to the task at hand he doubled his efforts to locate the power and, after what seemed like forever, he caught a flicker of something he'd never felt before. Mentally going back to where he felt it, he tried to find it again and after a few near misses he managed to get a strong enough lock on it to get closer. Feel-wise it felt like a big ball of scent that reminded him of those Christmas tree air fresheners people hung from their rear view mirrors. Going around it and around it, he tried to find the connection that'd have to exist to link him to Gaea but there wasn't any obvious one that he could pick out. Reaching into the sphere with a metaphorical hand, he tried to sense the flow of the scent since it made perfect sense to him for some of it to be flowing back to Gaea.

It was only a few seconds later that he managed to make sense of the flow and, in one move, pursued the flow of scent that seemed to be heading away from him.

As he followed the trail, he found himself comparing it to an old carnival house of horrors that was so dark that people had keep one hand on a guiding rope to keep from bumping into things. Further and further he went until, out of nowhere, a completely unfamiliar sensation washed over him like a blast of cold air. Out of surprise if nothing else, he opened his eyes but instead of seeing the familiar chamber that had been his room for the last few days, he found himself in a mostly white void with a light tinge of green pulsing as though to a heartbeat. While he wasn't completely ruling out the possibility that he'd been teleported there, his current theory was that this was all happening in his head. Looking around, he tried to see if Fate's latest plan had been a success but, no matter where he looked, there was nothing white with pulsing jade every once and awhile.

"Um…hello? Is anyone there? Gaea?" he asked, deciding to try and speak like normal rather than try some amateur telepathy.

He waited for several minutes for some kind of response but none came that he could pick up on. He tried a few more times to get a response before considering that perhaps Gaea was present and listening to him but wasn't responding. Maybe she wasn't saying anything because she didn't think he'd said anything worth responding to. With that in mind he decided to just lay everything out in the open and hope that this would be enough to at least get her to confirm that she was present.

"Look, I don't know if you're listening or not, Gaea, but here's the deal. I know that it was you who saved me from the nuke back in the desert and that you gave me power to stay alive," he said, trying not to focus on any one spot. "I'm grateful that you saved my life but this power you've given me has become more of a curse than anything else. There's no point in having power if you can't control it. I heard from the members of the League what happened the last time you empowered a human and I understand that you didn't want to chance me doing something selfish with it, but ya gotta understand something. The Hulk's hurting innocent people when he comes out!

"It wouldn't have been so bad if the personality you cooked up was at least smart enough to know who to fight and who not to but the personality you made is an idiot," he said, continuing with stating the situation. "He's like a dim-witted five year old who's prone to temper tantums! If you really want him to be some kind of new Guardian you have to increase his IQ until he's at least smart enough to outsmart a ten year old."

Deciding that was enough for now, he waited and observed his surroundings for any sign that Gaea was either going to give him a physical form to look at or at least respond in some way. Fifteen minutes seemed to pass before he finally concluded that his attempt at opening a discussion had failed completely. He was beginning to think that she was one of those goddesses that thought themselves so far above the mortals they claimed to care about that trying to reason with them was useless. If that was indeed the case then he needed to so something to snap the deity out of her arrogance and get her to take him seriously.

"STOP IGNORING ME, GAEA!" He yelled as loud as he could into the white void. "You know as well as I do that in the desert I would've grabbed onto anything that would let me live! You took advantage of that to give me the power of the Hulk! You counted on my desperation to make me agree without thinking about the consequences! WHAT KIND OF GODDESS ARE YOU THAT YOU TARGET THE WEAK AND DESPERATE!"

Now **this** got a response as all at once he felt pressure placed on himself that made him feel as though the void was trying to crush him with some kind of unseen force. He fought against it, it was not in his nature to surrender to something that was trying to kill him, but all he had the strength to do was slow his defeat. It was right as he felt as though he'd die that he sensed something in front of him and so, with supreme effort, he raised his gaze to look at it. Like a titan from Greek mythology, a female form hovered in front of him seemingly comprised of emerald energy with filaments of brown mixed in for some reason. The woman seemed to look at him with a cross look on his face reminding him of a parent about to punish an unruly child and then, with little more than a casual wave of her hand, he felt himself flung away at incredible speed.

With a suddenness matched only by a light flicking on, he found himself back in the chamber a second before a series of small explosions sounded around him. It took him a moment to recover from the suddenness of his return but when he did he saw that all of the items that Dr. Fate had arranged around the outside of the chamber had been shattered completely.

"Did you make contact with Gaea?" Dr. Fate asked a bit unsteadily as the sorcerer took in the remains of his talismans.

"Um, yeah, I did." He said as the lingering sensations of the goddess' dismissal faded away, "I tried to talk to her but… I think I made her mad instead."

"I would say so." Fate said, no doubt imagining what must have happened.

"Something tells me we should give her some time to cool off before trying again." He said as he rose to his feet.

"That would probably be wise. The gods and goddesses of the world are never easy to understand or deal with even when they're in a good mood," Dr. Fate said as he made his shattered talismans disappear with a snap of his fingers. "Considering how long Gaea has kept herself separate from humanity, it is likely that she is unused to dealing with humans directly. The same could be said for our lack of experience in speaking with her."

"Yeah, well, I hope we get more experienced and fast because I don't want to be stuck this way an longer than I have to," he said as he walked over to the bed he'd been sleeping in.

Dr. Fate said nothing in response but that was only logical because what could the sorcerer say to someone who'd been cursed with another that he had no control over.

_**Outside of Washington, Motel, The Next Day, Void's POV**_

"How are the preparations coming, Void?" Megan asked from her lookout post by the window.

"They are nearly complete. I have successfully accessed all pertinent information on the Justice League Embassy and will now begin running scenarios to find the one with the highest chance of succeeding," she replied as she hovered over one of the beds in her true form. "Initial projections put completion at tomorrow evening at the earliest."

"Good. That'll give the rest of us a bit more practice time," Megan said with seriousness that was unusual for her.

Indeed, ever since they'd managed to get out of the city, all of them had acted with one goal in mind: rescue Xander and the others. She had acted as the information gatherer, hacking into any database she could find on the Justice League Embassy as well as anything or anyone connected to it. With her former role as the central computer core for the Kherabim warship, she was centuries ahead of anything this world had ever seen and so breaking into secure systems without being detected was as easy as breathing was for Megan. Nevertheless, it had taken until now for her to gain enough information that she could be satisfied that she'd missed nothing at all. Now came the time for her to take the raw data and begin to construct feasible plans for infiltrating the embassy, locating Xander as well as the others and then liberating them before escaping. It wouldn't be easy since her data made it clear that there were at least ten Leaguers at the embassy at any one time and, when added to Ross' people, that meant quite a few opponents to deal with. Time would be needed in order to devise the proper strategy to accomplish their objective.

While she had been gathering data, both Megan and Cessily had divided their time between covertly contacting friends in town to keep on top of the situation and sharpening what combat skills they had. She'd been a bit skeptical at first but both of them had explained that their line of work tended to attract people didn't like the word 'no' or to be kept from what they wanted. As a result, attacks outside the club did happen from time to time and as such, the owner of the club had insisted on all her employees taking self-defense courses. Some employees only took the bare minimum they could get away with while others still trained to become better at protecting themselves. Even those who possessed powers of some kind learned how to protect themselves because just having a special ability didn't mean you were undefeatable. In the cases of Megan and Cessily, they both possessed some skill but neither believed that they were at a level where they could match a member of the Justice League.

However there was one factor that she was concerned could ruin everything.

That factor would be unknown individuals assaulting the embassy at the same time as them.

While she could not be certain, she'd seen signs that someone else had gained unauthorized access to the files pertaining to the Justice League Embassy. She'd done a cursory examination to see if she could determine who it was but, when that effort had come up empty, she'd moved on and continued her information gathering efforts. Nevertheless, the possibility remained that when the three of them made their attempt to infiltrate the embassy that their plans would be disrupted by the actions of others. She'd already taken steps to incorporate such intrusions into every scenario she constructed but, without knowing precisely who would interfere, there was no way to guarantee success.

There was one possibility that might even matters out, though, and that would be if Zealot or Grifter broke out at the same time they broke in. She had no doubt that at this very moment both Zannah and Cole were preparing their own escape efforts but were waiting for the right moment to act. While she would like to believe that they would wait for her and the others to attack, she knew that the partners were independent types who didn't like to sit around and do nothing. If the three of them took too long planning Zealot and Grifter would grow impatient and likely act on their own and that would complicate matters significantly. Not only could it result in an increase in security but it might also prompt either Ross or the League to transfer their prisoners to a different and more secure facility. While several levels above the sort of security you'd find at a local police station or security firm, there were still places that made the embassy look inferior in terms of security. If the League transferred their prisoners to their orbital space station then a rescue would be almost impossible since she would almost certainly require that she open a portal to get them there.

Despite her hope that it wouldn't come to that, she still included it in her calculations and her scenarios.

Devoting seventy-five percent of her mind to running scenarios, she allowed the remaining twenty-five percent to review all that she'd experienced since her first encounter with Xander. It had been a unique experience for her and it had been different from what she had become accustomed to aboard the Kherabim ship. On the ship, while there had been some crew members who'd treated her as a comrade, most simply saw her as a soulless artificial intelligence whose sole purpose was to make their jobs easier. They treated her no better than one would a weapon or a transport but, at the time, she hadn't taken offense because she was simply performing her function. She knew nothing else. Now, though… now that she had experienced some time as an individual with someone who treated her like an equal.

Like someone would treat a friend.

With those two experiences in her mind side by side she began to see how her former life had been lacking. There had been no passion, no life, just an ever-repeating routine that she had been expected to follow for the rest of her existence. It was so hollow and, as she concluded, without thinking that she wanted nothing more than to leave that old life behind so that she could fully embrace the new one that was forming through her connection with Xander. She knew it would be hard for Zealot and any other members of her crew to accept but she was confident that with time they would come around.

If they didn't, she knew that she could count on Xander to stand by her no matter what happened.

That thought brought her comfort and made her all the more determined to rescue her friend from his captors.

_**An Undisclosed Location, Same Time, General 'Thunderbolt' Ross' POV**_

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Ross asked as he looked across a long table at the committee that'd been assembled to address the matter of Alexander Harris, aka The Hulk.

"This committee has rendered its decision, General Ross," the chairman of the investigative committee said from his seat. "So long as the Justice League can competently contain the Hulk, they will be given sole jurisdiction over the matter. You and your men will be reassigned to other matters requiring your respective skill sets. This meeting is hereby concluded."

With those words the chairman struck the table once with his gavel and then the various occupants of the room, save one, began to leave. Sitting in his chair, the one he'd occupied for the meeting, was one General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross and the reason for that would be obvious to those who knew him.

His career was circling the bowl and he knew it.

It'd been in danger of happening prior to the test of Banner's prototype nuke but he'd been confident that with its success his position would be secured. While he might not have been an egghead like Bruce, he was smart enough to recognize how revolutionary the end result would be. A nuclear weapon capable of unleashing a blast usually associated with a bomb three or more times its size. It would have put him in good standing in the military and maybe even earned him a promotion if the weapon won a few significant battles for the United States. Unfortunately the joint interference of his wayward daughter and Harris scuttled the bomb's first field test and had caused some to ridicule his security precautions. They'd said that if someone else had been put in charge then the eco-activists never would have made it inside the testing area. Fortunately he had managed to put a positive spin on things by pointing out that the screw up had landed them an even better weapon; the Hulk.

While completely lacking in the area of intelligence, the sheer power and durability Harris had exhibited in his green form had been quite impressive indeed. Standard cars and other vehicles had turned out to be nothing more than cardboard cut outs when pitted against the jade giant's strength but the most impressive part had been when the League had tried to stop him. Both times the Hulk had managed to hold his own against some of the most powerful beings that group had and could potentially have defeated them all. By dangling the idea of creating more beings like him but loyal to the United States of America, he'd been able to stave off immediate reprisals. That was what had given him the time he'd needed to plan out and prepare for the snatch and grab operation that would get him the prototype for a new breed of super-soldier. He wasn't sure how quickly he'd be able to replicate the Hulk but he'd already made a short list of scientists and researchers who had credentials indicating they'd be ideal for the job. When they'd learned of Harris' location, they'd immediately sprung into action, customizing their equipment and tactics to match the scenarios that had been worked out. While there had been a few surprises, everything would've gone perfectly if the League hadn't shown up and ruined everything.

The paperwork he'd given Talbot had slowed things down a bit but in the end he'd been unable to persuade the committee that Alexander Harris, aka The Hulk, needed to be placed in military confinement. Despite the discrediting events in the past which should have made the top brass doubt the 'heroes' enough to make them see his point of view, the League was still given control over the Hulk. Knowing those bleeding heart show-offs, they'd likely do everything they could to either return Harris to normal or give him control over his alternate form. Neither was a desirable outcome for him since it would make his preferred outcome impossible. If they cured him then the odds of learning how to create more Hulks would be impossible. If they somehow gave the teenager greater control over his brutish form then capturing him would be **complicated**.

Complications were things he did not need at this point in his life since he already had enough for three people on his plate so far.

Getting up from his chair, he decided that he'd go to one of the bars that he liked to frequent while he was in town and mull over what sort of options he now had. With a little luck he'd conceive of one that would keep him from being put out to pasture.

He'd made it to the parking garage of the building and was about to unlock his car when he sensed a presence behind him. It was faint but the years he'd spent on the battlefield had honed his ability to detect someone trying to sneak up on him. Pretending to pat down his pockets for something, he maneuvered his right hand to a position that would allow him to draw his service pistol quickly and efficiently.

"Don't bother, General Ross. I haven't come here to hurt you." Spoke the woman behind him in a completely professional tone of voice, "Quite the contrary, actually. I'm here to offer a deal that'd benefit us both greatly."

Lowering his hand back to his side, he turned around to see who the speaker was and found a woman in her late twenties standing twenty feet away. Clad in a uniform that reminded him of a skin-tight version of a fighter pilot's flight suit, her bearing was that of an elite soldier but what attracted his attention the most was the emblem patch on her shoulder. He recognized it from a few of the more classified files he'd seen in his long career.

The woman wore the emblem of S.H.I.E.L.D.

He wasn't full aware of what they were capable of or how large they were but he'd heard enough to know that they had a lot of pull in a lot of areas around the world. They weren't quite the media's idea of 'Men in Black' but they were skilled at what they did and that made them a force to be reckoned with. That left just one question that needed answering: why was she here?

"What kind of deal?"

"A very simple one. Many people, myself included, believe as you do that Mr. Harris needs to be placed in the custody of the United States government rather than those cowboys in spandex," the woman replied with a bit of bitterness in her voice. "They're loose cannons who, quite frankly, are a threat to every major nation on the planet thanks to the fact that they answer to no real chain of command and more often than not play by their own rule book. It's irresponsible to leave something like the Hulk in their hands. Something needs to be done to change that."

"While I do agree with you on that, there's the little problem of the official decision of the committee, which I am willing to be you're aware of." He said, trying to get a better idea of the woman's angle.

"The people on the committee and their superiors are cowards. While they might claim to only be interested in maintaining friendly relations with the Justice League, the truth of the matter is that they're scared of those circus freaks. They want to avoid confrontation at all cost," the woman said, clearly not approving of the judgment any more than he did. "If they don't have the fortitude to do what is right then we'll step over them to do what needs to be done."

_So they're planning on doing something without official approval._ He thought as he gained a clearer idea of what he might be getting involved in, _If the resources this woman and her 'friends' are as impressive as I think, then an operation like this could very well be successful._

"What exactly did you have in mind?" He asked in the hopes that he could gain a better understanding of what the woman wanted from him.

"There are signs that certain elements intend to make a play for Harris within the week. The amateurs actually think nobody noticed all the information digging they did," replied the woman with contempt for these unknown persons. "We plan on taking advantage of the chaos they'll cause to extract Harris ourselves."

That would be an opportune time to strike and done properly it would succeed.

That left the most important question: why approach him?

"Why approach me if you have everything all planned out?" he asked, implying with his tone that he wanted an honest answer.

"The reason my allies and I have chosen to approach you is because this is not an officially sanctioned mission," the woman said without any hesitation. "As such we can't place one of our more qualified agents in command of the operation. They'd be identified too quickly and, win or lose, there'd be repercussions. However if the agents assigned to this mission were disguised as ordinary soldiers and placed under your command, then the operation could proceed with minimal complications."

_So I'm their scapegoat, eh?_ He thought as he finally gained a good grasp of things, _I'm already in a bad spot and they know it. They want plausible deniability if things go bad as well as someone to take the fall if things go FUBAR. They know I have little more to lose by joining them and everything to gain if the mission is successful._

He considered his options but in the end he knew that he'd have no choice but to agree. His career was already on life support and, without a significant achievement, would eventually fade away to nothing. If he had to choose between watching his military career fade away and having it obliterated in an instant, he would prefer the latter since like other situations it'd be less painful that way.

"When will the operation begin?"

_**Russoff's Emporium, Later, Willow's POV**_

_This place isn't __**too**__ spooky._ She thought as she looked around the store she'd just entered.

True, the place looked like a cross between a tomb and some dusty antique shop but, considering the number of times she'd been out with Buffy on patrol, it didn't bother her. Looking at the various items on the shelves, she found that many of them she could identify thanks to the research she'd done with Giles. Some, though, were so bizarre that she actually found herself preferring not to know what they were just to protect her peace of mind. Almost immediately she began to look for items that would be useful in her efforts to rescue Xander. Before coming she'd made a short list of spells that could be done with minimal preparation as well as some magical artifacts that had properties that would be handy to have. None of them were harmful to those they were used on but they would disorient the target or distract them long enough for her to get past them.

As the minutes passed, she found a few of the ingredients she'd need for some of the potions but they weren't in the best of conditions. She knew from what she'd read in Giles' books that some of them were starting to spoil while others were a color that indicated they were cultivated using improper methods. This forced her to pick through each container piece by piece to look for the ones in the best condition and, by the time that she finished exploring the store, she found she only had the necessary ingredients for three of the spells she'd selected. The store either didn't have the ones she needed for the rest or what it did have was of such poor quality that she was almost certain that it'd interfere with the desired effects of the potions.

With a sigh of disappointment she took her armful of things towards where she presumed the cash register was so she could pay for them. As she got closer she could see a somewhat shabbily dressed forty-something man with brown hair that had flecks of grey creeping in. He was currently reading through a newspaper and, near as she could tell, hadn't noticed her entering the store in the first place. It wasn't until she began to set down the various things she'd picked up from the shelves that he closed the newspaper and turned to face her. However, a moment after he locked eyes with her, she saw them flicker with a light for a second before returning to normal. For a moment she feared that she'd been put under a spell but when the older man started laughing with non-malicious humor her concern turned to puzzlement.

"Don't worry, young lady! It was just mage sight." The older man said in a casual way, "It isn't harmful in the least. It just lets me know who the pretenders are and who's 'in the know', as it were. In fact I can tell just by a glance that you have an impressive aptitude for magic and that you come from the Hellmouth. Would you care to tell me which one?"

She considered her reply for a moment before saying, "Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale! Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you young lady." Said the shop owner, sounding pleasantly surprised, "You wouldn't happen to know a Rupert Giles would you?"

"Y-yes. I got the address of your shop from him." She replied, keeping her response short and to the point.

"Really? Now that seems a bit odd since the last time I spoke with Rupert he didn't seem to like me very much. I find it hard to believe that he'd give a young lady such as yourself my address." The shop keeper said, sounding like he suspected something. "In fact, I'd wager that he didn't give it to you at all. You took it without permission, didn't you?"

Hearing that question, she couldn't help but look a bit guilty and that caused the man to laugh with amusement.

"I imagine that Rupert is going to be quite upset with you when he finds out," stated the shop keeper once he finished laughing. "For that alone I'll knock ten percent off of your bill. Now let's see what you have here."

For the next few minutes she watched as the man examined each of the ingredients she'd chosen before ringing them up on the old cash register. By the time he was done, the total cost was a little higher than she'd been expecting but she could still afford it and have enough to get Xander and her back to Sunnydale.

"You've chosen quite a few interesting items here. Makes me think you want to get something from someone without letting them get in your way," the store owner said, giving the ingredients a second look. "Disorientation and distraction items from what I can tell. It's a good combination but not unbeatable since all of them require that they be in close proximity to the target when they're used. Perhaps if you tell me what you intend to use them for I might be able to help."

She was unsure if she should elaborate on what she was planning to do or not. While she didn't think that this guy would go running to the cops if she told him she couldn't afford to take a chance in case she was wrong.

"A little illegal, eh? Then how about just a few generalities about what you'll be using these items for?" the shop owner asked crossing his arms across his chest, "No names or anything. Just the broad strokes."

"Well… there is something I want to get… or, rather, someone," she replied, trying to keep the information vague. "But there are people guarding him who'll get in the way. I don't want to hurt them. I just want to get my friend and leave."

"A rescue mission eh?" asked the shop owner rhetorically, "How strong are the people guarding him?"

"Pretty strong. Some have powers but others are just people with military training," she replied, concerned that she'd give away her goal if she said more.

"Then you're going to need more than this if you're going to rescue him," the shop keeper said as he got to his feet. "If you could hit them all that the same time it'd be fine but give the guards time to see you coming and they'll know to dodge what you throw their way. I think I might have something that give you a bit more of an edge. Give me a minute to get it out from the back room."

She wanted to tell him not to bother, that she'd make do with what she had, but by the time she'd formulated the right way to say it he was already out of sight. With a sigh she waited and five minutes later the shop owner emerged holding an ornate wooden box with some rather striking carvings on the top. Setting it down on the counter, the older man wasted no time in opening it to reveal a red head piece made of metal that to her eyes at least looked like it was shaped like an M.

"Behold the head piece called the Mantle of Transia." The shop owner declared with a bit of flourish, "Something I acquired during my time overseas. It has the ability to affect chance and probability to varying degrees or at least that's what my research discovered."

"You mean that you don't know if it even works?"

"Nope. According to the research I did, it will only work for specific people with certain traits," the shop owner replied as he lifted the head piece out of its box. "Ever since I got it I've been keeping an eye out for someone who could use it and even let a few of my customer's handle it to see if it reacted. So far it hasn't even gotten warmer. Shall we see if likes you?"

For a few minutes she looked down at the item and wondered if she should do as the shop owner suggested and try it on. Giles did not have a high opinion of the man before her and the guy did seem to have a desire to rile up the Watcher, so there was some risk involved. Still, she didn't sense anything off about the head piece and surely it couldn't hurt to at least try it on once. After all, what were the odds that just putting it on could bring her harm or that she was even compatible with it in the first place?

Thus it was with some reluctance that she reached over and took the supposedly arcane item from the shop owner, feeling an odd warmth coming it almost immediately after her skin touched it. Looking up at the shop owner, she saw him gesture to put it on and after a moment of hesitation she placed in on her head in what she hoped was the right way. It was only a few seconds after she'd dropped her arms to her sides that something happened that she'd remember well into the future.

With virtually no warning the head piece began to glow with crimson light before energy leapt from it, striking her hands, feet and chest. Where the energy struck she could feel an odd sensation that seemed to sink into her body from the skin inwards down to the very marrow of her bones. Bringing her hands up she could see that they were glowing with a crimson light but, before she could examine it further, it faded away. Looking back at the shop keeper, she could tell that he was elated at what had happened and it made her wonder if she'd just been played.

"It seems you're full of surprises, young lady. I had thought that you would get it to sparkle for a second or two at best," said the shop keeper with a smile. "To get such a flashy reaction from it I think we've pretty much confirmed that you're one of the select few that can use it to its fullest potential. Therefore consider it yours."

"What! But it's so valuable!" she blurted out, unable to believe that the man before her would part with the item without making her pay for it.

"It's also something I've had for years without being able to find a match so strong," explained the shop owner in a tone that made his words sound reasonable. "I'll probably wait even longer if you pass it up to find a suitable match for it. Personally I'd prefer to just get rid of it rather than have it take up valuable storage space. I'd owe you one if you took it off my hands."

She had to admit that his argument was somewhat reasonable. The man was running a business and running a business meant profit was the most important part of the process, so having something no one would buy was a waste. While it was possible that someone who knew about magic might buy it for decorative purposes or perhaps to find a user for it on their own, if the store owner hadn't found anyone by now then he had good reason not to be optimistic about the future.

"Okay. I'll take it," she said, removing the head piece and placing it back in its wooden box.

"Then let me bag these ingredients and the box," said the shop owner as he reached for a bag beneath the counter.

_**The Back Room of Russof's Emporium, Ten Minutes Later**_

"It is done, my Lord," spoke the shop owner as he knelt before the medium he used to speak with his master. "After many long years, a suitable sorceress has been found."

In response to his words a living darkness enveloped the medium and then a pair of eyes gazed down at him.

"WELL DONE JACOB. I HAD THOUGHT MY FAITH IN YOU MISPLACED OF LATE BUT YOU HAVE PERFORMED YOUR DUTIES WELL." Spoke a malevolent voice from within the darkness.

"I am merely holding up my end of our agreement" Jacob Russof said looking up from his submissive stance. "Just as we agreed those many years ago, I would find you a sorceress powerful enough to act as a conduit for your power and you would free me of my curse."

"AND SO I SHALL. IN DUE TIME, THAT IS," spoke the old voice of true evil.

"What do you mean 'in due time'?" Jacob asked, sounding puzzled by the statement.

"WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT YOU HAVE FOUND A SUITABLE SORCERESS, IT WILL BE SOME TIME BEFORE HER LINK TO MY CREATION IS STRONG ENOUGH FOR MY PURPOSES." Replied the voice with malevolence, "SHE WILL NEED TIME TO GROW IN STRENGTH AS WELL. ONLY WHEN BOTH ARE STRONG ENOUGH WILL THEY BE ABLE TO PIERCE THE BARRIERS BETWEEN DIMENSIONS SO THAT I MAY PASS THROUGH."

For a moment it looked as though Jacob Russof would press his Lord to hold up his end of the bargain but the man knew it would be pointless. He knew he was not the only servant his master had in this dimension and, if he became too willful, he would be destroyed allowing another to take his place. His only hope in freeing himself from his curse was the dark being he now spoke with.

"Then I shall wait for that day with eager anticipation, Lord Chthon." He said, swallowing what anger he had at being strung along.

"DO NOT WORRY, JACOB RUSSOF. IF MY SUSPICIONS ABOUT THE GIRL ARE CORRECT, HER GOOD INTENTIONS WILL COMPELL HER TO USE MY CREATION MORE AND MORE." Lord Chthon said from the medium in the center of the room, "BEFORE ANY REALIZE THE TRUTH OF THE SITUATION, I WILL BE BEFORE THEM IN ALL MY GLORY."

_**An Underground Facility, New Mexico, Same Day, Glorificus' POV**_

_I __**HATE**__ having to deal with this guy! _She thought angrily as she followed the bulbous headed human male down the corridor, _Still, I'll need what he has to offer if I'm to capture that blasted Kherabim computer._

Indeed the creepy little worm in front of her hadn't been her first choice of potential tools but the others had proven to be either too weak for what she had in mind or would've taken too long to become respectably strong. Given the hellish pain that Lord Helspont had put her through after her last failure, neither qualities were what she required in order to be successful. That had left her to this freakish scientist and his little science projects in the hopes that he'd have something that she could use.

As with all things, though, she knew his aid would come at a price.

Much like the first time that she'd met him, his price was simple: in exchange for his services she had to provide him with Daemonite technology.

Fortunately even the most obsolete piece of her people's technology was light years ahead of anything anyone on this dirtball had ever seen. The trinkets she'd taken from the various stockpiles that Helspont had around the world had been enough to satisfy him before and she was sure they would satisfy him this time as well. The only thing that mattered was whether or not the creations he had made would meet her needs or not.

"I was so pleased to hear from you again, dear Glory," spoke the man in front of him as he headed to a reinforced door at the end of the hallway. "The toys you provided me with for our last arrangement have proven to be most beneficial to my research. Once I've received payment for this venture, I predict another leap forward is in my future."

"ONLY if you have creations that meet my needs, Sterns." She pointed out with no room for negotiation.

"I have no worries on that part, my dear. As I stated, your contributions to my work have resulted in a great deal of progress," Sterns said with a smile as he removed a unique looking key card from his lab coat pocket. "In anticipation of your approaching me for aid, I have created some things I believe you'll find quite **interesting**."

Saying nothing more the little man inserted the key card into a slot in the center of the door, causing the lights above the slot to flash from red to yellow to green before the sounds of locks being undone began to fill the air for a short time. Once silence returned, the reinforced door parted to reveal a room with glass tubes rowed up on either side of a central path that led to a tube five times larger than the others. With what little patience she had she followed him while casting the odd glance at the things floating within the tubes. For the most part they all looked the same but there was nothing impressive that she could see as far as appearances were concerned. With this in mind she ignored them and hoped that these things weren't what Sammy Boy thought would impress her, otherwise she might very well kill the worm.

Minutes later they arrived at the end of the walkway and as she stood before the largest of the glass tubes, hoping the size wasn't just for show.

"I've been observing the media for the last few days now, including the battle you had at that construction site. This… Hulk…,is a most interesting creature," Sterns said as he began to operate the control panel in front of him. "Simple minded but with a strength and durability to rival some of the most powerful beings on the planet, including yourself. The creature posed an interesting challenge for me but, as usual, my superior intellect was up to the task. All it took was a little modifying of something I'd planned on selling to Lex Luthor before his capture to create something suitable to your needs."

Lights installed in the bottom of the tube snapped on, illuminating a giant of a creature that was easily twice as large as the Hulk, though its looks were only vaguely human with reptilian traits being more dominant, as well as a smattering of marine traits thrown in for variety most likely. With muscles and size on its side, she thought that maybe it'd be decent enough support for when she went after her target.

"Using a human base in the form of discovered communist spy, I immediately set about making genetic and biological modifications to increase its durability, strength and regeneration," Sterns explained while operating the console. "It was, after all, intended to be able to beat Superman. I've added a few surprises based on the information I've acquired about the Hulk so he should be more than a match for the brute."

"Not a bad start but you know there's going to be more than the Hulk trying to get in my way, right?" She asked, hiding the fact that she was impressed with the monster floating before her.

"Of course. I've managed to acquire the services of three mercenaries who have something of a bone to pick with Grifter and Zealot," Stern said just before the sound of an opening door came from the right. "Ah! Here they are now! How are your enhancements settling, gentlemen?"

"It was hell getting them but there's no arguing with the results, doc," replied the cyborg in red and blue cybernetic armor. "Strong as I am right now, Cole Cash won't stand a chance."

"Upgrades satisfactory. Threat level of unit increased by nine hundred percent," replied a being that she couldn't decide whether it was a cyborg or a robot with an A.I.

"Yeah. Might not be human anymore but nothing short of a Justice League heavy hitter can touch me now," replied something that looked like a stone golem, albeit with cracks of what looked like lava crisscrossing its body.

"Good! Good, my terrible trio!" Sterns said, sounding quite happy that his machinations had turned out so well. "Now I'd like you to meet the lady who will be in charge of the operation. You'll be taking orders from her. Her name is Glory, or Glorificus, if you prefer, and as a friendly piece of advice I would recommend against being disrespectful towards her. My improvements might have made you far superior to what you were before but she can still tear you apart if you anger her."

"Not a problem. We've been hired to do a job and we'll do it," spoke the cyborg with confidence. "So long as we get paid in the end, we'll do anything she says."

"As long as you three don't forget that, we'll get along just fines" she said, liking the fact that all it'd take to motivate these worms was their little pieces of paper.

"Well, I'm glad you've been able to come to an understanding so quickly," Sterns said rubbing his hands together with satisfaction. "I trust these additional forces will be sufficient Glorificus?"

Taking a look at the three mercenaries and then looking back at the giant freak show still floating in its tube, she had to admit that the little man might very well have outdone himself. She wouldn't let him know that, of course, but with these forces under her command she'd be able to get the Kherabim computer even if she had to sacrifice all of them to get it. Then she could return to Lord Helspont victorious and he would no longer look at her quite so closely, giving her time to devise his downfall followed by her own ascension to the role of queen of the Daemonites.

"They'll do. You'll get your 'payment' after I've captured my target." She said, making it sound as though the scientist's creations barely met her requirements.

For a moment it looked as though Sam Sterns would protest but a glare sent in his direction quickly took care of that in the blink of an eye. She might require the humans aid from time to time and he might have come through for her this time but she was not about to let him think he had the right to argue with her.

SHE was the superior being. SHE was the one deigning to grace the barely evolved ape with her presence. And if he ever forgot that and gave her any lip, she'd tear it off his face **after** ripping his head from his shoulders.

_**The City Limits of Washington That Evening**_

"This is without a doubt the most **insane** plan you've ever hatched!" Exclaimed the young man in the back seat as he looked at the brunette in the driver's seat.

"You didn't have to come, you know," responded the young woman as she kept her eyes on the road. "I could've done this by myself!"

"And gotten yourself caught or killed? Not going to happen," declared the African American teenager in the passenger-side seat. "Harris saved our lives twice and now it's time for us to return the favor. I just wish we had a better plan then this."

"If we had more time I'd think of something better but if our contact is right, my dad's going to grab him soon and if he has his way, Xander'll never see the light of day again," she said, keeping an eye on the signs that came up on either side of the road. "We can't let that happen!"

"And we won't. Still… what makes you think this plan of yours will work?"

"Our contacts managed to get us a couple of uniforms from the group my ad's going to use so we can blend in easy enough," she replied in a calmer tone of voice. "Once we get into the League embassy with the rest of the group, we'll break off and find a room with access to the internal network. From there it'll be up to you to hack in and throw some roadblocks in front of my dad's toy soldiers."

"Assuming he doesn't have another 'uh oh' moment like he did with the nuke," commented the young man in the back seat.

"I won't. I've had some time to go over what happened then and I know where I messed up," snapped the black kid. "It **won't** happen again."

"I know it won't," she said with trust in her voice. "Once you have the soldiers penned in, you can disable the security cameras between us and where they're keeping Xander. We'll make our way there as quick as we can, bust him out and then escape while everyone else is distracted."

"And if we bump into someone on the way there?"

"We'll say we're a part of the military security detail on our way to reinforce the ones outside his cell," she replied without a shred of doubt in her voice. "So long as we don't do anything to stand out, I doubt anyone will give us a second look."

It wasn't the best plan and all three of them knew it. Nevertheless they were committed to rescuing Xander Harris before he was lost forever to the depths of a prison that could not be found, much less penetrated.

None of them wanted to contemplate what would likely happen within such a place.


	10. Battle Royale Rumble

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever. I write for my own fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my works.

Note: Sorry for the long wait. I've been working on some other projects and that combined with work has chewed up a lot of my time. Also with those other projects I've been working on the premise that I would finish them completely before posting them but that is proving to be a mistake. Instead I've chosen to just release them all and update as needed. So expect quite a few new titles from me in the next while but as for the updating of those new stories it will probably be random which ones will be updated in the weeks and months that follow.

_**Three Days Later, Washington, Justice League Embassy, Omega Containment Chamber, Evening**_

_**Xander's POV**_

"Did you fare any better this time, Xander?" Dr. Fate asked as he shook his head at the broken arcane artifacts arrayed around the young man's containment chamber.

"Nope. She's still ignoring me," he replied with some annoyance. "You'd think the embodiment of the planet would be a little bit friendlier with her people. All I'm asking is for her to take her power back or give me more control over it. That's not asking too much, is it?"

"Not in my opinion but, as I've said before, goddesses and other such beings do not think as you and I do. They live for hundreds or thousands of years and can perceive things far beyond what even the most skilled mortal can see," replied the man with the golden helmet. "When you add to Gaea's reclusive nature up until a little while ago, persuading her to do as we ask will be difficult. We must be patient."

"Yeah, well, I hope that she decides to deal with me before someone else does and not in the Jerry Maguire sort of way." He said not very optimistic about his unofficial boss lady coming around to his point of view.

"You're concerned about the people you fought at the construction site?" Fate asked with some curiosity.

"Them and Ross. I know Supes said that the top brass have decided to give you guys control over me but that fossil didn't strike me as the sort to give up easily," he replied, remembering all too well how stubborn the general could be.

"Do not worry. While the League wishes for nothing more than to get along with the United States Government, we will not permit you to be removed from here against your will." Dr. Fate said with honesty.

"Thanks." He said even though he had a sneaking suspicion that there'd be a limit to how far the League would be willing to go with him.

While some people might buy into the whole hero image that the League often employed, he was more realistic. They were people first and foremost, which meant that while they might aspire to do good, it was all too likely that the reality of a situation would force them to make a hard decision. He just hoped that before that time came he'd be able to get rid of the Hulk or gain enough control to fight his way free of whatever the military tried.

"In any case, I must return to my abode to repair these artifacts if we are to make another attempt at communicating with Gaea." Fate said upon picking up the final piece of the artifacts they'd used. "I think I will also look into strengthening them so that they do not break quite so easily."

"Yeah, it must be a real pain having to fix them for the… thirteenth time?" he asked, not sure how many times the baubles had been shattered since the first communication attempt.

"Fourteenth, actually, and it's not that much of a bother," replied the Doctor with a smile in his voice. "Sleep well Alexander."

With that the Justice League's go-to guy for magic left and he began to ponder what he would do to kill some time before he went to bed. They'd moved a TV in and some videogames but he wasn't sure what to do first. Being hooked up to the JLU's systems meant that he had just about every channel on the planet but that just made choosing a show that much harder. The games were few enough that he had an easier time making a choice but the difficulty came from figuring out which one suited his mood best. He was about to choose a military themed game when he heard the doors to the room slide apart and this was odd because normally no one came to see him after Dr. Fate left. Turning away from the games and to the entrance to the room, his eyes widened for a moment when he saw who it was but when memories started popping up he guiltily averted his eyes.

It was Supergirl.

He'd never seen her before now, not with his own eyes, but he'd heard what the Hulk had done to her in Las Vegas. The green brute had hammered her head into the pavement until she'd lost consciousness, leaving her bloody and bruised for others to find. Judging by her appearance she'd made a full recovery since then but that didn't change the fact that he'd been the one that'd hurt her. It didn't matter that he hadn't been in control of the body at the time. All that mattered was that it was his body, magically empowered by Gaea, that had beaten her into a hospital bed and reminded him a little too much of how things usually went towards his parents. His father was no Hulk and his mother was definitely not Supergirl but it was a sadly common occurrence in the Harris household for the former to injure the latter enough for hospital care to be required. Ever since the first night he'd witnessed his father's brutality, he'd sworn that he would never allow himself to do the same. He promised that he would become a better man than his father could ever hope to be so that when the bastard finally died he might feel at least some shame.

Now he could only imagine his father laughing at him and calling him a hypocrite.

He felt like trash at that moment.

"So you're not going to even look me in the eye?" she asked, sounding more than a little angry.

He merely shook his head 'no' in return not trusting his voice at the moment.

"You blame yourself for what happened in Las Vegas?" she asked with her anger doubled in her voice.

He nodded since that was the only response he could justifiably give.

"Well that's just…STUPID!" she yelled as she marched right up to the not-glass tube that made up his cell. "Only a complete idiot would blame himself for something he had no control over!"

"Huh?" Oh, real articulate.

"What? You think you're the first person to be taken over by your power?" she asked sternly, like she would a spoiled child. "The League's met dozens of people who lost themselves to their power and have members who need to watch themselves so they don't wind up doing the same. No one blames you for what happened, least of all me. So just get over yourself already! Nobody likes a brooder."

"HEY! Now that's a low blow!" he exclaimed, annoyed at being called the dame thing he'd called Angel.

"Maybe but that doesn't make it any less true." She said seeming to calm down a little bit.

She had a point, no matter how much he wanted to say otherwise. He had been brooding about what he'd done as the Hulk, when he was alone, and that was a little too close to what Deadboy probably did on a daily basis. Still, what could he do when faced with a problem that seemed so insurmountable? He was cursed with the ability to turn into a dimwitted giant capable of leveling entire cities with his bare hands the moment he lost his temper. He still clung to the hope that he could eventually convince Gaea to help him out but every day he waited only served to remind him of what a ticking time bomb he was.

_Still, I'd sooner drop dead then start imitating Deadboy!_ He thought as he mentally grabbed his worry and tossed it into the nearest imaginary volcano.

Then, in an effort to lighten the mood, he turned to face her then gave her body a once over just like he would've in high school not too long ago. Mid-riff baring top with long sleeves, a mini-skirt that didn't quite reach the knees, a red cape and boots made for quite the outfit. The fact that the top was tightly clinging to every curve and the skirt looked like a strong enough wind would have her flashing everyone within range didn't hurt.

"Then I guess I should find something else to focus on," he said putting on his trademarked lopsided grin. "Isn't it a little drafty in that skirt?"

For a moment she got the angry look just about every female got whenever a guy acted like a complete pervert but, when he wiggled his eyebrows at her in a comical way, she seemed to realize he'd meant what he said in a humorous way.

"Funny thing about being invulnerable is that you don't have to worry about being hot or cold." She replied with her own half smile.

"Guess not. Besides which, I guess only an idiot would say something you panty flashing people." He said his grin turning into a smile, "After all, you'd have to be pretty stupid to say something like that to a girl who's got ten different ways of smacking you around."

"A few jerks still say things like that but I don't let it bother me," she said with a voice that implied she was recalling a few such incidents. "Why bother with them when their low IQ will probably do them in for me?"

"Smart move," he said, agreeing that morons like that don't need any help in the pain department since sooner or later they'd do themselves in. "No sense wasting energy on people who don't have enough brain cells to understand what you're doing."

The conversation that followed took about an hour but it was enough to raise his spirits and get him to forget his troubles if only for a little while.

That she was easy on the eyes helped improve his mood as well.

_**The Streets of Washington, Same Time, Megan's POV**_

"So far, so good," she said as their car continued down the street unobstructed. "Any chatter on the police and military frequencies, Void?"

"None that would indicate a problem for us, Megan," replied the sentient computer in her human disguise. "However that does not necessarily mean that they are unaware of us."

"I know. I wish I could risk running a telepathic scan but that'd be like sending up a flare for the Martian Manhunter." She said with a bit of bitterness in her voice, "Let's just hope for the best."

As it was they'd already put their plans into motion so it was a little late to turn around and abandon their mission.

Void had already inserted programs into the city's communications network that, in twenty minutes, would completely isolate the JLU embassy from everyone else. She'd even arranged it so that the top four transmitters surrounding the embassy would work on synch with one another to emit a jamming frequency to ensure that the League wouldn't be able to get out an SOS. Unfortunately, though, the programs had been devised in a bit of a rush so that once the other side realized what was going on, they'd at best have thirty minutes before everything was back to normal. Turning around wasn't an option because the enemy would learn of their efforts and security would tighten more than it was already. If that happened, rescuing Xander would be impossible and that they could not permit.

"Cessily? How does the gear look?" she asked the girl of liquid metal in the back seat who was going through a large bag.

"I've followed Void's instructions to the letter," Cessily replied, looking away from the bag. "The small stuff is assembled and ready to go and the big stuff is ready for assembly."

"Good. Be ready to move the second we get there." She said before focusing her attention back on the road ahead.

As she navigated the streets to their destination, she went over the plan once more in her mind. Step one was that they would arrive at an alleyway two blocks away from precisely five minutes before the programs were set to come online. There they would arm themselves using the weapons Void was able to construct using the crude materials available on Earth. They weren't pretty and probably wouldn't last past this one mission but, if everything went the way they wanted, it wouldn't be necessary for them to. Once the programs took effect they would make for the western entrance to the embassy where Void would interface with the gate controls to open it. Once they were inside, Cessily and her would set up the mobile attack drones and prepare to keep the Leaguers present occupied. While they did this Void would infiltrate the building to free Xander and the others, using her avatar abilities along with some devices she made to take care of internal security. Based on the scenarios the A.I had put together, the members of the League present on base could be kept at bay for a maximum of forty-two minutes. That would be how long Void had to locate, free and then escape the building. If they took longer than that then the odds of failure went up dramatically since, not only would the better trained League begin to wear them down, but their allies would likely clue in to what was going on. By Void's calculations, their plan had a seventy-two percent chance of success and, had she been given more time to prepare, she could've worked up a plan that would have a ninety-nine percent chance of success.

Time, however, was not on their side and so they would have to make due with what they had.

There were also plans for escape if things turned out really bad but she personally hoped that they didn't have to use them because not one was sacrifice free. For as long as she could remember, she'd hated strategies and tactics that called for the sacrifice of precious lives. People who condoned such plans had caused her pain enough already and she had no desire to be included in the same group as them. Still… she wasn't willing to risk the deaths of her new allies solely because of her own past and current beliefs.

Looking ahead, she spotted the alleyway entrance that would take them the last fifty yards and thus, with smooth driving skills, she entered it. Fortunately for them she knew this area of town reasonably well so she didn't expect any obstructions that would interfere with the plan, like new fences or a brick wall. There were a few new pieces of graffiti on the walls but nothing she needed to be concerned with. As she came to a stop, she checked the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was coming up on the final ten minutes until Void's programs went into effect.

"Alright, girls! We're here." She said, turning off the engine before removing her seatbelt. "Start assembling the big toys while I do a little scouting."

Turning herself both invisible and intangible, she slipped through the front of the car and flew towards the JLU embassy so she could take a look away. It'd have to be a quick one but she'd have time enough to get a basic grasp of things as well as see if there'd been any new changes in the last twenty-four hours. As her head passed through the final wall, she looked in all directions around the Embassy and was about to return to report nothing odd when the sound of several powerful engines rolling down the street. Turning towards the sound, she watched as three large APCs turned onto the street, their loud engines proceeding right up to the front gates of the Embassy. She couldn't tell much more than the fact that they were definitely military and judging from the fact that they were soon let into the Embassy it was safe to say they had the necessary clearance.

_Not good but also not unexpected._ She thought as she began to make her way back to the others.

It had been one of the factors that Void had included in her scenarios: an unexpected increase in the military presence. It'd been a given that, as long as General Ross was involved, the military would do everything they could to maintain a tight grip on Xander. If they couldn't have sole control they'd have enough men on site to ensure that they could take control of the situation should the League provide them with an opening they would be able to take full advantage of it. As far as their plans went, it'd just mean additional distractions for the League which could be a big help in helping rescue the others.

"So what's the situation?" Cessily asked, sliding the final part of what looked to be the sci-fi version of a grenade launcher into place.

"Everything's pretty much as we expected except more troops just came rolling in," she replied as she set her feet on the ground.

"Were there any distinguishing markings on their vehicles?" Void asked from her cross-legged position mid-air.

"Nothing I could see. Probably just more of Ross' people." She replied, moving over to extract a few of her own 'party favors'.

"Perhaps." Void said as her eyes glowed with an eerie white light.

Looking at the shiny, silver-clad entity, she had to wonder just how much the female knew and just how smart she was. Sure, she'd heard enough to know that she was a ship's avatar and computer core wrapped into one package but there had to be more to it than that. Unfortunately, even if her personal code didn't prohibit her from reading the minds of good people, the fact that Void was essentially a machine made her telepathy useless. Still, it was also nice since it meant that she'd be able to get to know her like a normal human.

Once all of the devices were properly strapped to her body, she looked at her watch that had been counting down since Void had initiated her programs. They had a little over three minutes before everything would fall into play so it was time to move to the launching point of their strategy.

"Let's go, girls. The curtain's going up in three." She said before walking to the alleyway entrance that would make the beginning of everything or the end.

Personally she was hoping for a big victory celebration followed by a more private one involving her and Xander.

It was something to look forward to.

_**The Washington Justice League Unlimited Embassy, Several Minutes Later, General Ross' POV**_

"General Ross. To what do we owe the visit?" The Leaguer known as Green Arrow asked in a less than sincere manner.

"Intelligence reports have come across my desk that suggests outside parties are preparing to assault the Embassy tonight in an effort to acquire the Hulk," he replied according to the script Agent Hill had provided. "As a result I've decided to bring more troops to reinforce this position. It'd be quite the bit of trouble if that kind of power fell into the wrong hands."

"I think we can handle things here well enough," stated the archer with a costumed fool's usual bravado.

"A little overconfident, don't you think?" he said with a bit of skepticism. "Waller and her Cadmus crew almost managed to take down your castle in the sky not too long ago. If she'd put someone better in charge of the operation instead of that pet clone of hers, it probably would've been a sure victory."

The truth of the matter was that he really did believe that the Justice League space station could've been taken if a proper soldier had been put in control of the attack force. A proper leader would've set goals, designated targets in order of priority and taken steps to ensure that even should they be defeated they could achieve a measure of victory. Instead the clone designated 'Galatea' had simply reduced it to a free for all to cause enough chaos to allow her to penetrate the reactor room with the intention of blowing it up.

_A waste of resources no matter how you look at._ He thought with a disapproving frown at the archer.

"Considering some of the things the Justice League has taken down, I don't think you're giving us enough credit," said Green Arrow with admirably little reaction to the General's provocation.

"Perhaps. It doesn't change the fact that I've been given full support by the federal government to reinforce this location." He said as he took a thick envelope out of his coat pocket. "See for yourself."

The Robin Hood imitator took the envelope and, after reviewing the documents inside, a satisfying grimace of reluctant acceptance formed on the blonde's face. He'd taken a look at the documents himself and even he had to admit that, had he not been told that they were forgeries, he'd have believed them to be genuine as the so-called superhero in front of him. True, if the League contacted the higher ups to verify their authenticity there'd be problems but Hill had assured him that the relevant people would be 'indisposed' for the next twenty-four hours at least.

That would be plenty of time for the mission to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

"Fine. Just remember whose place you're walking in," Green Arrow said before turning away to attend to League business.

He waited until he and the troops were alone before turning to the man that Agent Hill had assigned to him as second in command of the group.

"Begin phase one but be sure not to arouse suspicion." He ordered as a soldier and a leader should, "I will be in the control room. Signal me when you've finished preparations."

"Yes sir!"

Watching the troops assigned to him begin to disperse, he mentally reviewed the plan that had been laid out by Agent Hill. Phase one involved the planting of various devices throughout the Embassy that when activated would disrupt any attempt by the League members present to form a unified defense. While as a group they would be formidable, they could be dealt with quickly enough when broken into groups no larger than three. It would be when phase two was enacted that things would get interesting but reconnaissance of the Embassy at the very least had provided a means by which they could neutralize Harris. According to the intel, the League had installed gas vents in the target's chamber that were rigged to release a potent knockout gas that would keep him unconscious for hours. That would allow them to successfully transport him to their fallback position where a custom-made mobile containment vehicle would be waiting to take him to what would most likely be his abode until his death.

Naturally he had devised secondary plans with Agent Hill to compensate for the unknown elements that intended to acquire Harris for their own purposes and he was confident they'd suffice.

When he entered the control room for the Embassy, it was unsurprising that he found Black Canary at the main console. According to his knowledge of the League, Green Arrow and her were often paired together for missions so it was little surprise that since one was assigned to Washington the other would sign on as well. Fortunately the soldiers with him had gear that would prove effective against the two of them once phase two began.

"What's the status on the prisoner, Ms. Lance?" he asked as he arrived at the main console.

"Mr. Harris is just fine. Watching a little TV at the moment," Replied the woman, clearly disliking his presence and the label he'd assigned Alexander Harris.

"Oh? Treating him a little too well I see." He said disapprovingly as he shook his head.

"He's not a prisoner here, General Ross," Black Canrary said firmly in order to get her message across. "He's a young man who just had the bad luck of driving into your testing area. The League already has its top mystics working on a way to help him."

"Oh really? Any progress?" he asked genuinely interested on the status of such a venture.

"Not yet but it's only a matter of time." Ms. Lance replied before turning away from him.

_Good. If they're as far from a cure as I think, then I've got nothing to worry about._ He thought as he moved next to her pretending to look at the video feeds on the various monitors.

The truth of the matter was that he needed to be in close proximity to the console in order to use the device hooked onto his belt. With a flick of a switch and an almost invisible flicker on the monitors, looped footage began to run with the Justice Leaguer being none the wiser. This would allow his soldiers to move about without being electronically monitored, leaving only live people for them to be concerned with. Fortunately the suits the soldiers wore beneath their fatigues would hide them from sensory-based powers and their training would take care of the rest.

Hopefully by the time that the resident League members realized something was up there wouldn't be anything for them to do but curse their own arrogance.

_**The Bus Stop North of the Embassy Walls, Same Time, Willow's POV**_

_I hope I haven't forgotten anything. _She thought as she unzipped the duffel back hanging off her shoulder.

She'd gone through the contents for the fifth time to make sure each bottle of liquid, each container of specially mixed herbs and each piece of tech she'd acquired was in just the right spot to make for easy use. The reason for the multiple checks was because, despite sending a message to AESE for help, she hadn't heard a word from him all day. That meant that the odds were high that she'd have to bust into the Embassy on her own and one against ten or more members of the Justice League, as well as an unknown number of soldiers.

Not the best of odds, especially since she wasn't a Slayer or a superhero.

Still, she would take action just the same because her best friend was counting on her to save him and after being so much with him she'd die before failing him.

Taking a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves, she prepared to cross the street and begin her infiltration of the Embassy. However, in order to ensure that she wouldn't be spotted, it was time to use the first of her potions. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she felt around for the right one before taking it out. One quick throw to a spot five feet ahead of her and the bottle shattered, releasing a plume of grayish mist. Running through it, she took some satisfaction as she watched her arm fade from sight, after which only the occasional blur could be seen letting her know where it is. Unfortunately the 'Mists of Avalon' potion wasn't meant to last five minutes so she had that amount of time to get over the wall and to the first of many hiding spots she'd picked out by looking at the plans she'd acquired online.

Upon reaching the base of the wall, she muttered a chant under her breath and, thankfully, the spell didn't require the user to speak loudly. Then with a single jump she managed to clear the wall and land on the other side without making a single noise. Thanks to the potion she'd treated her shoes with half an hour ago, she was able to reduce gravity's pull on her just enough to allow her to leap as high as any Slayer could and then land without making any noise. Without a moment of hesitation she went behind the nearest tree and it was a good thing she did because the Mists of Avalon dispersed, rendering her visible again, so too did the potion she'd put on her shoes, but that was okay because she hadn't expected either concoction to last more than few seconds each. The ingredients used in their creation hadn't been the best and, with the time constraints she'd been under, the potions hadn't been allowed to mature like the recipes recommended. As such their effects weren't as potent or as long lasting.

Peeking her head around the tree, she took in all she could see so she could decide which would be the best route to take.

She could see pairs of soldiers all over the place with none of them being out of sight of another duo for more than three seconds. She wouldn't be able to simply slip by them when they weren't looking so that meant she had to make them focus their attention on one spot long enough for her to sneak past them. Fortunately she'd figured that she'd have to do something like that fairly often and she had the perfect artifact for the job. Reaching into her bag, she withdrew a mirror and, as moonlight touched the reflective surface, the surface began to ripple like the surface of a lake. Raising the surface so that she appeared in it, the ripples quickly settled and then she turned the reflective surface away from her to trigger the rest of the mirror's power. Three feet in front of the mirror the air began to churn and then, like a sci-fi bird of prey becoming visible once more, a detailed image of her appeared. If an enemy got too close they'd see enough inconsistencies to realize the truth but, from a distance, there'd be no way to tell the difference. Best of all, though, was the fact that it was sustained by moonlight so she wouldn't need to waste energy keeping it going AND, unless something larger than a bowling ball went through it, nothing could destroy it.

"Go." She whispered to her copy, only to see it nod in acknowledgement before running off.

Almost immediately the alert sounded amidst the soldiers as they gave chase and, despite what they probably thought, putting their hands on her double wouldn't be an easy task. While not strictly speaking sentient, it was smart enough that it could play keep away with the best of them and, when you added that to the fact that it wasn't hindered by a corporeal body, you had the perfect decoy. Peeking out from behind the tree, she saw with satisfaction that more than half the guards had left the area, with the remainder sticking close to the entrances to the main building. Despite what some might think, this was what she wanted because the closer together they were the better her next move would work.

Reaching with both hands into her bag she withdrew two of the largest bottles from within before popping the tops off. Then, with a slow roll along the ground, she sent them to the feet of the soldiers all of whom had just enough time to take aim at them with their guns before the contents took effect. It was not gas within or some sort of liquid but rather crooning voices that ensnared its victims through their sense of hearing, causing them to ignore everything else. It was a bit of a parlor trick and anyone with experience with the supernatural would be able to fight their way through it, but to the G. it might as well have been the sirens of Greek myth.

When she was sure that every guard within range was otherwise distracted, she advanced on the door she'd picked out as the most likely to be close to the room she'd predicted Xander would be in. Once in front of it she took out her laptop and prepared to hook it up to the electronic lock when she noticed one very troubling fact.

The lock on the door was **NOTHING** like any of the versions she'd researched.

One of the things she'd researched was the most advanced security devices developed by the top security tech firms on the country. She knew that a lot of the League's tech was probably custom made but it had to have elements in common with the more mass produced versions available to various companies. Yet, no matter where she looked, there was no access port nor did she find any other way to interface with the lock to make it open.

_NO! I can't be stopped this early!_ She thought clenching her right hand into a fist. _Xander's counting on me and I won't let him __**down!**_

In a spike of rage she slammed her fist into the lock that was keeping her from her best friend's side and, upon contact, something happened that she hadn't expected. A crackle of crimson energy left her fist and shot into the lock light lightning, causing the display as well as the status lights on it to flash chaotically. When the lights finally went out the door popped open, leaving her wondering what the **HELL** just happened. She knew what she'd been told by the shop owner about what she wore on her head but, in all the time since she'd acquired it, she hadn't been able to do anything useful with it. A few odd occurrences and maybe something turning out differently than experience told her it should have, but nothing more out of the ordinary than that. Not once had she managed a lightshow like what had happened in the store yet, just now, she'd managed a crackle of energy strong enough to fry the lock on the door.

Shaking her head, she knew that now was not the time to be thinking such things. She had to keep moving before the soldiers running after her copy figured out the truth and returned. Pushing the door open, she entered cautiously into the Embassy, following the map she had memorized in her mind from the data she'd acquired online. It had been like putting together a puzzle with over fifty pieces and even then there were gaps in what she knew that she'd been unable to fill in the time she had. The most serious concern now, though, would be the security cameras and other systems that monitored the interior of the building. Reaching into her bag as the first security camera came into view, she removed a cylindrical glass tube and flicked it with her finger to awaken the spirit within it. At first nothing happened but then a crackle of golden electricity went from the bottom of the tube to the top and then another did the same. Over and over it crackled until it took on a vaguely humanoid form with what looked like lightning bolt wings.

_I just hope this little guy doesn't cause too much chaos. _She thought before throwing the tube at the camera.

Upon the shattering of the tube, the little lightning sprite gave out a mischief-filled cackle before entering the camera and causing it to short out. However it didn't stop there because, as it travelled through the surrounding wiring, it continued to short out whatever devices were connected to the wiring. It was her hope that such chaos would distract anyone who might get in her way buying her the time she required to find Xander and free him.

She didn't even want to think of the alternative: a direct fight between her and the opposition.

A fight like that she would almost certainly lose.

_**The Rooftop of an Apartment Building South of the Embassy, Attica's POV**_

"Well isn't this interesting!" Glory said looking down at the chaos taking place in the JLU Embassy. "Maybe I'll enjoy the floor show before taking center stage."

_I don't know who was in charge of handing this lady her brain but it's clearly gone bad and not in an evil way._ Attica thought as the five of them looked down at the mess that was the developing below them. _Still, money is money and as long as she doesn't do anything too crazy, I'll do my job._

It had been about two weeks before the crazy lady had shown up that he, H.A.R.M and Slagg had been approached by Darkwell for a job. The fedora-wearing creep didn't go into much detail but the info that was crucial was there so he didn't mind. They'd been told that they were to help one of the man's comrades acquire a piece of merchandise. They'd been told that they would receive several 'enhancements' free of charge to aid them in their job. They would be paid five times what they usually charged for their services. They would get a chance to get revenge upon the warriors Grifter and Zealot. That had been more than enough to get the Troika to sign on for the job and, so far, he had no reason to regret the decision to take on the job.

Sure, the person in charge of the job was obviously a few beers short of a six pack but it seemed that her head was together enough to keep things from spiraling out of control.

The only thing bothering him now was the fact that they hadn't been given the order to attack and join in on the fun going on in the Embassy. Aside from the money, the other thing that he liked about his job was the action. The fighting, the destruction and the death gave him quite the adrenaline high. It was like a drug and being this close to getting his fix and not being able to grab onto it was turning into an itch that was slowly driving him mad. Still, it wasn't quite bad enough that he was willing to risk the crazy woman's wrath by diving in on his own. He'd wait until she gave the order… for now.

All of a sudden his cybernetic HUD display notified him of anomalous movement and so he turned to see what it was. After zooming in on what his implants were informing him of, he had to smile because it meant that he would no longer have to deal with his itch. Racing towards the Embassy were three dark clad ladies but one of them was giving off an unusual energy signature that matched the file that the boss lady had provided for the target.

"Looks like the guests of honor have arrived, boss lady," he said, pointing in the direction of the target. "Let's give them a warm welcome."

"Hmmmm… I guess so," Glorificus said with a little disappointment. "I was hoping to enjoy the show a little longer but I guess there's no time for that. Let's go!"

Sometimes he just couldn't figure the woman out and that was taking into account the fact that she was more than a little cracked in the head. One second she was almost fanatical about capturing the target, the next she was treating the whole operation like it was a diversion meant to entertain her and nothing else. Hopefully these mood swings of her wouldn't screw up the mission, otherwise he just knew she'd shift the blame to him or one of the others. With a sigh indicative of bad feelings, he leapt from the roof to the ground below and, thanks to his cybernetic enhancements, it was any worse than leaping down an entire flight of stairs. As he began to charge across the street, he both felt and heard the beast that had come to be referred to as Abomination striding along behind them. The thing hadn't said a single thing since they'd left Sterns' place but it was smart enough to follow orders, so it wasn't some dumb animal. Whether it'd live up to the hype that its creator had thrown up they'd find out in the next couple of minutes.

Turning his attention to the stone wall ahead, he watched as Glory shattered it with a single punch and no sign of damage on her fist afterwards.

_Okay, so maybe this won't be as hard as I thought._ He thought as he reconsidered what might happen if the League heavy hitters showed up.

As soon as he entered the Embassy grounds he got to see first hand the chaos that he'd previously observed from afar and couldn't help but smile at how it tipped things in his side's favor. With a bloodthirsty smile he began to liberally use his plasma gauntlets to mow down everyone other than his team and the target. He could only chuckle with glee as the armor of the soldiers vanished like lit toilet paper under his barrage, their armor meaning nothing before his newly gained power. True, the two girls who were working with the target were managing to keep from being hit so far but, since they hadn't launched a single attack yet, he wasn't too worried. If all they could do was keep themselves alive then he only had to wait until they tired themselves out before delivering a killing blow.

It was only when parallel beams of red light struck his arm from above that he began to think that he should reign in his fun a bit.

As the beams cut out, he looked up and spotted a figure that his targeting computer instantly identified as Supergirl. Fortunately, when Sterns designed his cybernetics, he made sure they were made from an alloy with enhanced resistance to extreme temperatures. It wasn't foolproof and sustained exposure to heat vision would eventually succeed in melting it, but so long as he kept his movements erratic that wouldn't be a problem. Sending a signal to H.A.R.M on an encrypted frequency, he watched as the machine unloaded some of its more high-impact weaponry on the blonde girl of steel. He didn't think that it'd be enough to pierce through the teenager's invulnerability but the force of the impacts on her body should be comparable to physical blows directed at a normal person. Watching as the weapons succeeded in hitting their target, the effects weren't quite as satisfactory as he would've liked but they were successful in knocking the woman from the air.

Hearing movement with his audio sensors, he turned to see the duo of Green Arrow and Black Canary come around the corner of the building. Almost immediately the archer opened fire, hitting him with an explosive arrow on the first try but missing with what appeared to be electric properties. The damage the first projectile had done to him was negligible but that didn't mean that he was just going to stand still and take everything they threw at him either. Deciding to change weapons, he opened a hatch on his shoulder, bringing out a cylindrical device and, using the targeting system, he trained it on the Leaguer on his right. With a smile he fired it, unleashing a complex sonic attack that assaulted its foe on more than one frequency making it almost impossible to counter.

That was why, despite the Black Canary using her own sonic scream as a counterattack, she still fell to her knees under the barrage of sound.

What came afterwards was exactly what he knew would happen.

"Black Canary! Why you-!" yelled Green Arrow as the Robin Hood wannabe began to rapidly fire arrows at him.

With the archer's attention solely focused on him, a side attack from Slag caught the green clad man by surprise, so when his partner slammed into him with his rock hold, shoulder bones broke. Watching as the archer fell to the ground clutching his right arm, his attention was violently shifted in the other direction as he watched the target phase through the wall, causing Glory to scream in anger. Past experience had taught him that when his employers lost their cool, operations tended to follow them and that made for a mess afterwards. Deciding that it would be best to improve Glorificus' mood as quickly as possible, he used his plasma gauntlets to blow whole in the wall before running after the target. Attuning his sensors to the energy signature provided by Glory, he immediately began to follow the trail it left both in solid objects as well as the air itself.

"I've got a lock on her!" he said more to reassure the crazy blonde rather than the need to say it.

"Don't lose her! If you lose her, I'll rip out your new toys one by one!" Glory growled at him with an unbalanced look in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Boss Lady! Thanks to Sterns' hardware and software, I could track her to the other side of the planet if I had to!" he said as he continued to navigate the hallways, blasting shortcuts in walls where he had to in order to stay close to the target.

It took them a few minutes but eventually the target was once more in direct line of sight with them.

"You're not getting away, Kherabim filth!" Glory yelled before taking something out of a pouch that had been attached to the belt of her outfit.

He didn't get a chance to see what it was but, when a blast of crimson energy leapt from the same hand holding the object, he assumed it was some sort of weapon. The first two shots from it went wide but the third managed to hit the target's arm, causing it to fall to the ground from its previously airborne state. However, before he could get close enough to grab it, the target managed to get back to its feet and run away. Fortunately its running speed wasn't anywhere near as fast as its flying speed so, little by little, they gained ground on it.

It was then though that a new complication introduced itself in the form of a teenage girl dressed in tight fitting black and red clothes. The target and the girl collided surprisingly, causing both to tumble to the floor, but he didn't mind since that just made it easier to deal with both. Glory apparently thought the same because, without hesitation, she fired her weapon again, this time catching the target square in the chest and almost knocking it unconscious.

"Who the hell are you guys?" asked the curly haired girl with a panicked look on her face.

"Nobody you'll have to worry about any longer, kid." He replied as he primed his plasma gauntlet to take the teenager's head off.

At least that had been the plan but, with a stereotypical thrusting of her hands to ward off an attack, a completely unheard of event took place. With a blast of crimson energy from the girl's hands, he had only a moment's warning in which his HUD displayed a warning message before his right plasma gauntlet exploded.

"AARRRGGH!" he cried in pain as the explosion knocked him back against the wall.

"Out of my way, you incompetent fool!" bellowed Glory as she pushed her way past him.

It wasn't a fun experience to say the least, especially since it caused his body to leave an impression in the wall, but he didn't have time to dwell on it since the moment he got free of the wall a second blast of crimson energy was released by the teenager, flinging his entire team back down the hallway. The attack had the side-effect of knocking some of his cybernetic systems offline for a few minutes but Sterns was a skilled enough scientist that he had back up systems to take care of situations like this, so the errors were soon corrected. However, in the meantime, the target and the teenager had run off, leaving them to once again chase after them. Judging from the murderous look on Glory's face, it was going to get bloody the second the crazy lady succeeded in laying hands on the teenage girl.

Not that he minded all that much but it'd draw more heat down on him and his team after if things got too messy. At least with his plasma gauntlets the blood and the flesh were pretty much incinerated, leaving cauterized flesh behind. While horrible, it didn't have quite the same effect on the average person's mind as blood coating the walls and bleeding dismembered body parts scattered all over the place.

_Guess I'd better think about which country without extradition treaties I want to go to for a couple of years._ He thought as he tried to predict how long it'd take for cops and feds to forget him.

_**The Brig, Grifter's POV**_

_Well, I think it's time I checked outta this dump._ Cole thought as he felt the building shake once more.

He'd been steadily working his way towards an escape since the day he'd woken up in his cell, restrained as well as stripped of just about everything he could possibly use. He'd hoped that they'd be soft enough that they'd just settle for locking him in his cell but apparently his rep for being one of the best in the business preceded him. They'd left him with only his pants and nothing else thinking that that would be enough to render him harmless but they obviously hadn't heard of his little stint in Korea as a POW.

_Too bad I can think of a less painful way to get outta these restraints._ He thought as wrapped his index finger around his thumb.

With skill born of painful experience, he dislocated his right thumb with a muffled grunt of pain and waited until he'd recovered enough before beginning the delicate process of sliding his right arm out of the high tech manacle. Once it was loose he used his mouth to put his thumb back into its proper place and, while the pain wasn't any better than before, it allowed him to regain full use of his hand. Reaching down to the hem of his pants, he ripped it open to reveal a paper thin strip that was completely invisible to all but specialized sensors. Taking the strip out, he pressed one end of it to the manacle around his left forearm and then bent the other side so that he could press one side into the other. He withdrew his hand quickly after that and with good reason since, after the two ends connected, the substance detonated, taking a large chunk out of the manacle but only mildly burning the forearm beneath.

_Not the prettiest of escapes but it'll do._ He thought as he stood up and walked over to the door to his cell.

Feeling around the wall, he located all of the grooves of the metal plating within reach while mentally reviewing the more common characteristics of high tech jail cells. Despite the variety of the designs, there were more than a few similarities that were present in every single one that could be exploited if a person knew what they were doing. After finishing his examination of the wall, he tore the hem of his pants a little more and took out four inches of the paper thin strip still inside. Applying an inch to each of corner of the center panel, he bent each piece in two then quickly stepped back so as not to be caught in the four explosions that blew the panel to the floor. Looking at the wiring and circuitry inside, he smiled as he was quickly able identify four component configurations that he knew how to deal with and two that he was confident he could handle.

Crouching down, he prepared to use his skills to trigger the unlocking of the door but, before he could begin, the door slid open on its own to reveal Zealot clad in military fatigues that definitely didn't fit her. For a moment he considered asking where she'd gotten the clothes and where the clothes she'd been wearing at the apartment had gone but she just gave him 'the look' and he decided that it'd be best to leave those questions to the imagination.

"Guess this means I won't be pulling a knight in shinin' armor routine," he said as he stood up just in time to catch two pistols that his partner had tossed at him.

"A proper knight would never have taken so long to break out of his cell," Zealot said coldly as she checked the chamber on her AK-47.

"Ouch!" He said with mock offense and humor. "You sure know how to hurt a guy. Have you busted Pris out yet?"

"What makes you think she's here?" asked the Coda warrior as she casually looked about yet missed nothing.

"When Ross drilled me for info, he let slip that he'd be asking 'her' the same questions and it sounded like he was pretty optimistic about getting results," he replied, finishing his inspection of his guns. "He couldn't have been talkin' about you, Cessily and Megan struck me as tough girls and Void's got programming keeping her mouth shut, so that leaves only Priscilla."

"You may be right. However, in my appraisal of her character, she has no warrior instinct whatsoever and no training." Zannah stated coldly before walking down the hallway. "It would be best to leave her behind. The Justice League will likely release her eventually and it would be tactically unsound to bring a non-combatant with us."

"If it was just the League we had to worry about, I'd agree," he said, following her to what he hoped was the way out of the cell block. "But with Ross sniffing around, I don't want to take the chance that he'll drag her aside for some Q&A behind closed doors."

"Very well." Was all Zealot said and together they began looking for the cell that contained Priscilla.

It took a few tries since none of the cells had the convenient peek holes to look through but eventually they found the exotic dancer and, aside from being in a bad mood, the girl was none the worse for wear.

"C'mon! Let's get the hell outta here!" he said, extending a hand of invitation towards her.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" declared the girl as she got off the bed, "Where are the others?"

"From what we've managed to put together, only you, Xander, Zealot and me got nabbed," he said as they exited the cell block and began to navigate the hallways. "So as soon as we bust Xander outta whatever hole they tossed him in, we'll make our getaway and leave town."

"Any idea where to look for him?" Priscilla asked as she looked about the area like a newbie keeping an eye out for trouble.

"Not really but I'm sure we can ask the next 'helpful' person we come across." He replied with a bit of a grin. "Zealot can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be."

That was putting it mildly.

Both in battle as well as interrogation, Zealot was a stone cold bitch who could tear her target apart and not even flinch once at the screams she inspired. While she didn't go too far with simple rank and file soldiers, she could be inspired to do so if the need was urgent enough. Hopefully, though, a little intimidation would be enough to coax Xander's location out of the next person they met and then they'd be one step closer to getting out of the Embassy as well as Washington. What they'd do after that was anyone's guess.

They couldn't continue on with their original plan since after they left Washington it'd be a safe bet that everyone on the east coast from the Justice League to the military would be looking for them. The west coast would also be out of the question since by now Xander's home address would pretty much be common knowledge, so they'd keep satellite surveillance tight in that area.

_It's looking more and more like someplace overseas would be the way to go._ He thought as the group continued to cautiously move down the hallways. _Guess I'll have to go through a list of old friends that might be willing to put us up or a few weeks._

Just as he was about to propose a few possibilities to Zealot, the wall ahead of them exploded like a dump truck had just slammed into it at full speed. As the dust cleared, he found that he was underestimating the destructive force because standing in the middle of a hole in a wall that was two feet thick was the ugliest sonuvabitch he'd ever seen. Almost twice as tall as him, covered in scales and enough muscle that made him wish he was armed with a bazooka or twenty the thing was definitely not a good thing.

In the end there was only one question he could give voice to.

"I don't suppose we could just talk this out, Big Guy?"

The response he got was a growl followed by a punch to the ground that opened a hole in the floor to the level below.

"Guess not!" He mused as he opened fire for any weak spot he could find.

Of course the fact that this monster seemed to be bulletproof only soured his mood even further.

_At the rate things are going, Xander's gonna need to save __**us!**_ He thought as the beast threw a chunk of cement his way.

_**The Center of the Embassy, Betty Ross' POV**_

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" yelled Rick as he scrambled through the doorway that was the only sanctuary available.

"We are if you keep spouting shit like that!" Randy yelled at his teammate before taking a peek out the door for a second before yanking his head back behind cover, "Now get your shit together or I'll personally throw you back out there to get fried!"

This, thankfully, had the desired effect of shutting up Rick and that let her focus on thinking a way out of the mess the three of them were now in.

It had started out well enough; with a little detective work they'd managed to locate the staging area for her father's forces and, thanks to the fact that she knew how her father thought, they were able to slip in unnoticed. After that, though, was the issue of procuring the right gear in order to disguise themselves as just another of the G.. For that they'd waited until three soldiers were out of sight of their comrades before using a knockout gas grenade to put them to sleep. While they were military hardware, you could get just about anything on the black market and, thankfully, they knew a dealer who cared enough about the environment to slide a couple their way. Once the soldiers were unconscious, they were stripped and their gear handed to whoever they fit best before being shoved into the nearest closet. After that, though, they didn't just slide in with the rank and file since the odds were high that the group were familiar enough with each other that they'd spot strangers immediately. Instead they'd slunk to the APCs and hidden themselves in cargo compartments meant for supplies or gear that couldn't be carried easily. It was a stroke of good luck that all three of them had been able to find an empty one to slide into, otherwise the chances of them being discovered would've gone way up.

It'd been difficult remaining perfectly still the entire time without making a single noise but, considering the fact that they'd managed to get all the way to the Embassy in one piece, was a point in their favor. It was only after they'd arrived that things had gone to hell with alarms sounding and an atmosphere of battle filled the air. At first she'd thought that her father had simply launched his offensive but, upon exiting the APC, she found chaos surrounding her. People she didn't recognize on all sides were fighting with group affiliations only loosely visible to her eyes making thinking up a plan difficult. In the end she, Randy and Rick had simply grabbed their borrowed weapons and tried to fight their way into the main building.

That had been a lot harder than most would think.

While she and her friends might have some training in the use of firearms and tactics, they weren't at the same level as her father's men. It had taken everything they'd had just to survive and then find the open door that the three of them had just barely managed to slip through minutes ago. Now that they were inside they had more cover to hide behind but that didn't necessarily mean that they were safe. This was the JLU Embassy and so far she'd only seen three superheroes when there should've been seven more assigned to the compound. Had everything just happened when there were so few present by chance or had her father somehow arranged for a distraction to empty the place a bit? Possible and she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth but at the same time she'd remain on her guard.

Reaching into a pocket on her flak jacket, she pulled out a PDA that she'd purloined off of one of her father's dead soldiers and began to access its contents. It only took a few minutes but she managed to find the information she wanted: the exact location of one Xander Harris. Most likely all of the soldiers had a similar device for use should they get separated as a result of the situation going FUBAR. Now that they had a map, she could formulate a plan.

"Alright, we've got a map and a place to go so let's get moving!" she said getting to her feet and holding her P-90 in the proper position, "On your feet you two!"

"Are you **NUTS!**" Rick asked before reigning in his fear under the glares he was receiving, "Look, I know we owe Harris for what happened out in the desert and for helping us get out of that base but don't you think we're a **little** out of our depth here? We've got soldiers blasting everywhere, monsters busting through cement walls like they're made out of snow and you know the League's going to get reinforcements sooner rather than later. Do you really think we've got a chance of getting Xander out of here with all that in the way!"

"Maybe we can and maybe we can't. All I know is that I owe Xander a debt and Betty Ross always makes good on her debts." She said running off in the direction of Harris' prison cell.

She listened for a moment to see if her two friends would follow her but, at the same time, didn't think that they would. As much as she knew about them and how loyal they were to their environment cause, she knew that this was more of a personal mission so they had only come this far out of friendship. With the risk factor on the rise, it wasn't unreasonable to think that they might bug out on her and she wouldn't hold it against them one bit. This wasn't their fight, not enough to risk their lives on anyways, so in her mind leaving was perfectly reasonable.

Therefore she could only smile when she heard the foot falls of two people fill the air behind her as it could only mean that the trio would not be broken up just yet. Looking down at the PDA, she began to navigate the hallways to their target while at the same time keeping an eye out for potential enemies.

Fortunately for her with map they were able to get to their destination a lot quicker than mindlessly wandering around looking for a door that had 'Xander is here' written on it. Looking at the high tech door that looked like you'd need a missile to crack it, she hoped that Randy's hacking skills were up to the job of cracking the lock.

Taking up a guard position next to the door, she watched as Rick did the same while Randy took out his laptop and hooked it up to the interface. A point in his favor was the fact that the African American's education was such that he had firsthand experience with advanced tech and it was this that would allow him to open the path before them. All she and Rick had to do was distract anyone that came their way and keep them back from the door until Randy was done. With the exception of a few members of the Justice League, most people would stay behind cover when they were being fired upon. Thus, with focus and determination, she used her sense of sight as well as hearing to ensure that she had as much advance warning of oncoming enemies as possible.

As the minutes ticked by, though, her worry began to rise since all would be for naught if they couldn't get past this final door. It was with some relief then that she heard the familiar sound of locks being undone and sliding doors parting from each other to reveal the room within. Grinning, she turned and charged with her friends into the room expecting to find Xander there but came face to face with more than they bargained for.

Vixen.

Batman.

The Flash.

Huntress

Wonder Woman.

"We're screwed." Rick said with surprising calmness.

"Yep." Randy said looking at the opposition in front of them.

As much as she wanted to say otherwise, this was one scenario she hadn't counted on when they'd entered the city. They'd known about her father's plans and event taken into account the possibility of another party assaulting the Embassy for some reason. Under those conditions they'd assumed that any superhero on site would immediately go to combat these forces, leaving Xander relatively unprotected. At most they'd thought that one or two people standing outside the glass-like tube that was imprisoning the person she'd come to save and so they'd prepared accordingly.

If she'd thought that they'd be facing five members of the Justice League, three of which were founding members of the group, she'd have 'borrowed' one of the experimental combat mechs.

"End of the road, Ms. Ross." Batman said with a serious tone of voice no doubt meant to be intimidating.

She was about to say more when, out of nowhere, the left wall of the room exploded inwards, creating a giant sized whole. Before anyone could think anymore on that another force broke through the wall on the right side of the room, making her look to the wall on the far side of the room since that was the only wall left in one piece. When nothing happened she looked to the clearing dust cloud on both sides of the room.

On one was a giant reptile thing looming over a woman with white hair, a young woman with black hair and a man with blonde hair. The trio on the floor looked pretty beat up and tired, making her wonder how much longer they'd last.

On the other side of the room was a woman clad from head to toe in some sort of shiny silver bodysuit who had red energy crackling over her body and a teenager with long curly hair holding her close. Then it was with the sound of four separate sets of footsteps that the final actors arrived making her think that maybe, just **maybe, **she should've just forgotten about Xander Harris.

If she'd done that, then maybe she wouldn't have hospital time or a grave in her future right now.


	11. Dark Clouds, Traumatic Changes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and that will not change. I write fanfic because it's fun and because people enjoy reading my work.

_**Outside the JLU Embassy, A Few Minutes Before, Cessily Kincaid's POV**_

"Aren't you done with them **yet!**" she asked as she moved the shield her right arm had become to deflect incoming fire from one of Ross' soldiers.

"Almost. Just a little more and… DONE! Drones incoming!" Megan declared triumphantly as the control box in her hands turned green.

"Good, 'cause I don't like the sound of what's going on inside." she said, recalling all of the thunderous booms that could be heard coming from within the embassy.

It had been less than thirty minutes since they'd entered the embassy grounds and already they'd lost track of Void and watched two separate groups enter the building while they were stuck outside. Not that there was much they could've done to prevent it with a combo of Ross' troops and the members of the Justice League still outside harassing them.

Now, though… now they could finally bring their own instruments of harassment into play.

Looking up into the air, she watched as three objects that looked like basketball-sized versions of the training spheres from Star Wars flew through the air towards the embassy grounds. There were three differences, though, that would make all the difference when it came to dealing with the forces opposing her and Megan. The first was that, in the movie, the training spheres fired energy blasts only powerful enough to sting someone. These spheres, however, had the ability to fire blasts that would disrupt the nervous system of whomever they hit, causing pain coupled with uncontrollable movement for at least five seconds after impact. The second difference was that, unlike the drones, they were connected and would move according to battle strategies that Void had programmed into them. According to the silver-clad woman, the strategies had been based on those used in Kherabim orbital defense satellites to a scary level of effectiveness.

The final difference was displayed a second later when Black Canary tried to blast one out of the sky with her sonic screech.

Each sphere generated a sonic disruption field that not only nullified physical attacks but had also had the helpful aftereffect of reflecting non-physical attacks back the way it came. A truly wonderful ability but Void was quick to point out after mentioning it that with only 'primitive' Earth components to work with the field would not last more than an hour. The artificial intelligence had even hinted that if each sphere was bombarded by a powerful enough attack that the collapse of the disruption field could happen even sooner. However that fit with their plans well enough since they had expected to be long gone by the time the devices were overcome.

The only reason they hadn't deployed them until now was due to an unexpected jamming field that General Ross had likely erected to hide his own efforts to take Xander. It had only been a little while ago that they'd managed to get some time to use the control box to cut through the interference but now they had an opportunity to enter the main building.

"Me neither. Let's go!" Megan said as she flew towards the nearest entrance to the embassy.

The few remaining soldiers tried to bar their path but they were in such bad shape that they were swept aside without too much trouble or increased injury. Once they were inside, though, they followed the floor plan that Void had made them memorize to where they strongly suspected Xander was being held. She was a bit surprised when they encountered no internal defenses but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth since it would only make their jobs that much easier. Looking at the smoking remains of some of the wall-mounted security cameras, it looked like some sort of power surge had overloaded them. She knew that it wasn't anything she or her allies had done, which meant either Ross or someone else who'd decided to attack the place.

_Whatever. So long as it doesn't get in the way of the rescue mission, I don't care._ She thought continuing to navigate the hallways.

It only took them a few moments to find the entrance to the room that Xander was in but she was surprised to find it already open. Had Void gotten here ahead of them? Running into the room, she found a scene she had not expected at all and made her wonder if anything but chaos could come of this. Five members of the League ahead of them, their allies looking seriously mangled on either side plus an enemy she didn't recognize looking to add more pain to the mix. Then, of course, there was the trio of teenagers not ten feet in front of her and Megan but she dismissed them after a second or three, judging them to be of little threat.

"Looks like that's all of 'em, Bats," Flash said, sounding like it was all over before it'd begun.

"Indeed." Batman said before clicking a button on a small device in his hand.

Before she had time to even think up the question 'what will that do', she found herself under assault by a force she could not detect with her eyes, ears or nose. Nevertheless, if its purpose was to neutralize intruders then it'd succeeded because it was taking every ounce of concentration she had just to keep from becoming a shiny puddle on the floor. On her knees as she lost the ability to stand, she could see that just about everyone else that was probably in the 'rescue Xander' category. The League members were unaffected because they likely had some manner of protection but why were the rest not on the ground. Neither the blonde nor the freaks showed the slightest sign of being affected by what the caped crusader had activated and this did not bode well.

"Was that supposed to do something, human?" asked the blonde woman with contempt. "You'll have to do better if you expect to put down more than rats."

Then, without further concern towards anyone in the room, she arrogant bitch reached down and picked Void up by the throat before tossing the A.I into the arms of cyborg behind her. Not liking the idea of seeing a friend taken again, she tried to battle against the invisible force but found her efforts rewarded with little more than a trembling form. For a moment it looked as though it would end there but then a cruel smirk appeared on blondie's face that would send a shiver up anyone's spine.

"I suppose I should really go now. I have what I came for." The woman stated before turning to look at Xander, who stuck within the transparent walls of his cell, "However I owe that monkey a painful death. If you want one too then, please… get in my way."

With that she began to make her way towards her desired prey and, just as one would expect, the members of the League moved to intercept her. Huntress was the first to act by firing a bolt from her mini-crossbow but, to the amazement of all present, the bolt bounced off the woman's shoulder like it had struck steel. Vixen was the next to try and, out of nowhere, the ground began to shake with every step that the African American woman took. This implied either great strength or great weight but whatever the case, when the heroine got to within striking range, she threw a punch no doubt with the intention of knocking the blonde lady off her feet.

That didn't happen, though.

Instead the evil woman blurred and, in the blink of an eye, Vixen was flying through the air in the opposite direction with blood streaming from the corner of her mouth. This was enough to cause the remainder of the League to spring into action, with the Amazon Wonder Woman leading the charge. When the dark haired warrior woman collided with her blonde foe, shockwaves rippled through the air and while it didn't damage the room itself, it definitely forced everyone to brace themselves in order to remain on their feet.

It was the first wave of force but it wasn't the last.

The other minions of evil joined the battled then as well but the degree of their success against the members of the Justice League was a bit more varied. Batman went up against the cyborg and the robot with the gadgets each side possessed keeping either one from maintaining an advantage for more than a few moments. The Flash and the Huntress teamed up against the lava golem-like creature but, while they succeeded in keeping it isolated from its fellows, their attacks did little damage. Still, as long as they could hold that one at bay until one of their heavy hitters became free, then it would all be good.

"What're you standing around for, you abomination!" the blonde yelled with rising irritation in her voice, "ATTACK!"

With those words the scaled behemoth that up until then had been simply watching by itself roared with aggression before going after the closest target, which was a nearly-recovered Vixen. With a move that was probably equal parts instinct as it was skill, the lady League member managed to avoid the two-handed blow before putting some distance between herself and her attacker. Too bad the ugly beast seemed to have more speed than one would think for something so large as it managed to obliterate the created distance by the woman in seconds. Stuck on the defensive, there was little Vixen could do except evade the blows being sent her way and blocking them when evasion was impossible.

It wouldn't win her the fight but it did have a nice side effect: It completely trashed whatever it was that Batman had used to render all but the baddies helpless.

_Looks like things are swinging back in our favor!_ She thought as her body solidified into her preferred form. _I just hope that it sticks with us long enough for everyone that matters to make it out of here._

_**Xander's POV**_

_THIS IS __**INSANE!**_ He thought as he watched the battle before him take place. _People I care about are in danger and I can't do ANYTHING!_

It had been maddening to hear the sounds of battle going on all around him but be unable to go and investigate because of his confinement. It had only been when five members of the League had entered the room and taken positions in front of him that he'd learned anything of consequence. Apparently Bats had found out that some people would be making a play for him that night and so he'd made sure to put a plan of his own in effect. Like the broody weirdo he was, the defender of Gotham City didn't say anything more after that but, considering his rep, it was bound to be both sneaky and efficient.

He'd been surprised, though, that the first of the arrivals turned out to people he hadn't seen in weeks.

Betty, Robbie and Rick.

He hadn't had a chance to say anything after that, what with a button click causing everyone in the room to collapse to the ground like they were weak as kittens. Only then did he figure out that Batman had made preparations that could take them all out in one shot by letting them gather into one place. He didn't know the details but the sci-fi geek in him speculated that it had something to do with harmonics or sub-harmonics or something like that. Vibrations sent through the air that disrupted biological functions in living organisms, apparently rendering them weak as kittens.

Too bad nobody told the bad guys what was supposed to happen to them.

From there things went from bad to worse as the baddies took it to the League members and proved that they were on equal level with some of the world's strongest heroes. He hated being helpless! He wanted nothing more than to help them but he'd been told how his chamber worked and knew if he put too much pressure on it, gas would be released, knocking him out for hours. It had been installed as a counter measure just in case he got too pissed and the risk of him turning into the Hulk became too great. They also had put into place sensors that would keep track of his heart rate so that even if he didn't pound on the glass, the gas would still kick in if he got too excited. So in short, unless something was done to smash the mechanisms that would take him out of the fight, all he could be for the time being was a spectator.

That was when a flicker of hope presented itself when, all of a sudden, those that had once been weak suddenly found themselves with new strength. From Zealot to Cessily to… WILLOW?

_What the hell is she doing here!_ He thought as the curly hair that had hidden her face from view parted. She should've been on the other side of the country in Sunnydale!

In his heart, though, he knew that as soon as she found out about the Hulk, about his connection to that monster, that she'd do all she could to help him. Even though she was barely out of high school. Even though in terms of combat potential, she was limited and often required much preparation time. Even though it could get her sent to prison or worse. However all he could do in the face of that was shake his head and realize that if helping Buff' hunt demons and stopping the odd apocalypse wasn't enough to keep her from walking into danger, then nothing would.

Nevertheless, he worried because, unlike back in Sunnydale, there was no one really who cared about her like he did. Sure, there were heroes present but they had their hands full with the baddies and, while the people he'd met on his trip were decent enough, they wouldn't try their hardest for a stranger. It took having an emotional bond of some kind to push someone to go to their limits and beyond for someone else in danger.

He somehow doubted that less than five minutes counted.

Still, hope remained since with four new combatants on the side of good the tide of battle turned against the blonde bitch and her allies. Megan quickly showed that she was on par with Wonder Woman in terms of strength when she moved to take on the big mountain of scales that seemed determined to pound Vixen into the ground. Two powerful strikes were successfully landed due to sheer surprise but this was enough to knock the monster off its feet and send it skidding across the floor. Sadly this did not put the giant out of the fight as it rose to its feet soon after and, if the growl it expressed was anything to go by, it wasn't happy. With steps that reminded him of Vixen's a short while ago, the creature charged to return the favor shaking the ground as its feet hit the ground.

At least it tried to return the favor.

While he'd bet that the beast had strength to spare, its moves were rather obvious and so the green-skinned girl didn't have any trouble evading them. However, when she tried to come within range to strike, the mindless thing did something unexpected and took the blow so that it could put her in a bear hug. He could tell that the dancer was doing her best to get free but it was like she was an ordinary girl rather than someone capable of turning an APC into scrap. When simply trying to push the behemoth's arms apart failed, she tried to punch it into letting her go but this only caused it to squeeze her even more. Pain was beginning to show itself on her face and, for a moment, he worried that some serious damage might be done if something wasn't done immediately.

"Don't you know shouldn't treat a girl like that, big guy!" came a voice he didn't expect as Vixen re-entered the fight, delivering a powerful kick to the back of the beast's head.

He didn't think it did any real damage but it was enough to give Megan a chance to slither out of the monster's grasp using some sort of stretching ability he didn't know she was capable of. Then again he knew she could shapeshift so maybe it wasn't that big of a stretch that she could manipulate her body's dimensions to a certain degree.

_At least she's out of trouble._ He thought as without words Vixen and Megan teamed up against the scaled creature.

Looking to see how the others were doing, he could see that both Zealot and Grifter were on their feet again and taking it to the cyborg. That freed Batman up to deal with the robot but, considering the weapons the hunk of tin was using, that didn't mean a whole lot. Still, at least with Megan, Cessily, Zealot and Grifter added to the fight, the blonde bitch's group was outnumbered almost two to one. With a little luck it'd all be over in the next few minutes and then he could persuade the League to let his friends go. He'd, of course, stay put until a cure could be found for his 'condition' or until he managed to persuade Gaea to give him more control over the Hulk.

That was the best way for things to go for the foreseeable future.

"THAT IS **IT!**" screamed the blonde bitch with anger and frustration. "I am through playing nice with you primates! This **ends NOW!**"

With a roar that would fit better with a dinosaur, the leader of the enemy forces charged Wonder Woman at easily twice the speed she'd been using up until then. Surprised by this change, the warrior Amazon almost didn't block in time and even then the force behind the blow was enough to send her through the wall (and, judging from the sounds, several more after that). The Flash tried to match her speed but whether it was a case of her surpassing him or simply a case of the scarlet speedster underestimating her, the end result of him on the floor clutching his stomach was the same. The most eye-catching change was what he was able to pick up the few times she slowed enough for his eyes to see her clearly.

She no longer looked quite human.

It wasn't gone completely but her admittedly beautiful feminine features were gradually undergoing a transformation that reminded him a lot of the female alien in the move 'Species'. It looked like something a makeup artist could mimic if they wanted but he had a feeling that the more thing dragged on the more inhuman her appearance would become.

With two fighters down in less than ten seconds, it became clear to those that remained that they needed to re-evaluate their priorities in terms of who needed to be taken down first. Ever the smart one, though, Batman seemed to realize that help was needed as he reached down to retrieve something from his belt.

"Batman to Red Tornado. Threat level has escalated," stated the pointy-eared warrior. "Initiate stage two."

He didn't have to wait long to find out what that was since three masses of shimmering blue energy appeared in the room seconds later. The energy soon disappeared to reveal three new arrivals that made him wonder just how far ahead the caped crusader planned things.

"Flash!" exclaimed Hawkgirl as her eyes fell upon the still suffering comrade.

"Get him to the infirmary, Hawkgirl, and then get back here on the double." Batman ordered as the two other new arrivals flew to his side.

"Right," replied the redhead before she landed at the Flash's side and picked him up gingerly before tapping her right ear. "This is Hawkgirl. Two to transport and have a med-team ready when we arrive."

Whoever was on the other end of the connection was efficient because a second later the duo vanish in a blur of blue energy. He hoped that the speedster got the help he needed because it'd make him a little guilty if the League member got seriously hurt because of a situation he indirectly brought about.

"These guys a bit tougher than you thought, Batman?" Captain Marvel asked from the dark knight's right.

"More than a bit. That one alone defeated Wonder Woman and Flash in one blow." Batman replied with his usual deep voice.

"Then I guess it's good that you called us in." Superman said, viewing the rapidly reptilian blonde in a new light.

_No shit!_ He thought as he figured that two of the most powerful League members should be more than up to the task of dealing with the blonde bitch.

"YoU'd ThInK sO, wOuLdN't YoU!" the blonde bitch exclaimed with a distorted voice before she lunged at Captain Marvel with fingers that had were more like talons now.

Naturally he didn't think anything would come of it aside from some torn clothes but, to his horror, blood was spilled as her fingers actually managed to cut their target. No one was prepared for this and the only reason the demonness' follow up attack missed was because Superman knocked her away before it could connect.

"Captain! Are you alright?" Superman asked as their foe got back to her feet.

"Y-yeah. I think so," Captain Marvel replied while pressing a hand to his wound. "It's not that deep. I-I don't know how she did it, though."

"MaYbE iF I dO iT aGaIn YoU'Ll FiGuRe It OuT!" yelled the she-devil as she renewed her attack with increased speed as well as ferocity.

Seeing this, he had to wonder if he should just stop thinking that everything will turn out because, from what he'd seen, Murphy wanted a little more entertainment.

Only the Almighty knew how long it'd be before satisfaction would be achieved.

_**Willow's POV**_

_This is just a __**little**__ more excitement then I can take! _She thought as she frantically tried to navigate through the battles going on around her and towards the tube containing her friend.

This was most definitely not what she had had in mind when she'd started down the path to help her friend but not only was she unwilling to give up, but she also knew she was in it too deep to back out now. By now at least ten people had gotten a good look at her face, some good people while others decidedly bad, so even if she turned tail and ran, she'd be found eventually. So like so many times in the past, she was grabbing hold of this chance to save her best friend and clamping down on it like her life depended on it.

True, with all the explosions and shaking going on, she'd like something a little more physical to grab onto but she knew better than to wish for something she'd never get anytime soon.

Clutching the only thing she'd been able to keep after being chased around the building, her laptop, she breathed a sigh of relief when she finally managed to get to tube. Lady Luck proved to be smiling on her this time because she was instantly able to find a USB port to hook into unlike before with the locks where there was none. She wasn't sure why it'd turned out like this but she wasn't going to question this bit of good fortune until later. Connecting her computer to the interface, she then started booting up her computer and thinking through the hacking programs that were stored on it. She'd brought disks containing other hacking software but they was gone and so she'd have to make do with what was stored on the machine. She was just about to initiate the first program when she realized that someone was yelling at her, so she looked up in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Xander.

"What do you think you're doing, Willow?" Xander asked, sounding like his current opinion of was that she was doing something nuts.

"What does it look like? I'm busting you outta here," she replied before turning back to her computer. "Now be quiet. I need to focus if I'm going to crack the encryption on the tube's systems."

"Wills! This isn't necessary. The League can help me!" he shouted back, obviously disregarding her request for peace and quiet.

"Well so can me and Giles once we get you back home!" she shot back, unable to understand why he was being so resistant to being saved. "And we wouldn't keep you locked up in some glass tube all the time!"

"Look, I don't like it either but it's the only way to make sure I don't go green and start smashing everything in sight." he said, sounding a little more rational.

"So we'll rig some kind of magic alarm on you to let us know it's going to 'go green' so we can stop it," she said, stubbornly refusing to back down. "Maybe we can even figure out a way to keep you from changing completely."

"No offense to the G-Man, Wills, but if Doc Fate can't come up with a cure, I doubt it's gonna be as easy as going back home to Sunnydale and cracking open a few books." Xander said, sounding like he thought this Fate guy was better than Giles.

"You'd rather be stuck in this bird cage until the Justice League gets around to fixing you?" she asked rhetorically while she brought a few tertiary programs into play. "You know they're busy enough handling their own little cities and when aliens decide to invade they'd probably forget all about you for months. Face it, Xander, they don't care about you near as much as the Scoobies do and that's why you're better off with us."

Ignoring him from that point on, she focused on cracking the passwords and security programs that prevented her from activating the machines to raise the transparent barrier. The defenses that she was coming up against were very impressive and if she ever had the chance, she'd compliment the programmer. However she'd racked up quite a bit of experience hacking and, with some of the tricks that A.E.S.E had taught her, she was making some headway. By her estimate, she'd be through in another ten minutes before she made it past the last barrier and then it'd take less than five keystrokes to free her friend.

She just hoped that no one took notice of her until then.

"AAAHHH!" came a feminine scream from the other side of the room.

Looking in the direction of the exclamation, she spotted a couple of soldiers backing away from the big scaled monster that, for some reason, had switched targets from the green skinned redhead and the African American hero, Vixen, to them. Considering the strength it'd shown, she didn't think much of the chances the soldiers and, without some outside intervention, they'd likely be seriously hurt or die. Nevertheless she was reluctant to intervene since it would interrupt her work on Xander's cage and because she didn't have the means to stop something that powerful even if she tried.

Besides, one of the heroes would step in.

Swoop in with a phrase and knock the beast aside saving the soldiers.

At least that's what she told herself as she ignored the voices of the fearful soldiers.

However, as the ground shook with the impact of both green girl and Vixen, neither were getting back up even after several moments of recovery time. Looking back the way they'd come, she saw that the blonde woman who'd been chasing after her before arriving in this room but only a little bit of her human exterior remained. It was truly an ugly and frightening form the former blonde had taken on and it was made all the more terrifying by the fact that not even the likes of Superman or Captain Marvel were immune to her power. Casting her gaze about the battlefield, she found that the advantage that the good guys had minutes ago was starting to tilt in favor of the baddies and that was never good.

And it got even worse when the alien eyes of the leader of the baddies fell upon her, gaining a troubling glint within them.

"WeLl, WeLl, WeLl! TrYiNg To SaVe YoUr FrIeNd Eh?" came the female's distorted voice before bearing a tooth filled smile. "I aDmIt ThAt I wOuLd LiKe ThAt MySeLf BuT yOu'Re GoInG aBoUt It AlL wRoNg! LeT mE sHoW yOu ThE rIgHt WaY!"

When the blow came, she didn't know how she managed to dodge it but considered it the sole reason her computer got smashed instead of her body. Scrambling to her feet, she backed away with fear as she glanced about the room to see if anyone could come to her aid since, without help, she was as good as dead. Sadly just about every good guy in the room was looking like they'd already been through a serious fight with even the likes of Superman and Captain Marvel bleeding on the floor. It surprised her to no end to see two men who could take a tank shell with only a little dirt to show for it bleeding from slash marks from the monster stalking her now. Her intelligent mind already had a couple of theories about that, including the fact that perhaps the monster lady was a demon from someplace so foreign that whatever forces governed the invulnerability of the two men couldn't compensate for it. She knew that there wasn't a 'block everything' spell and that what spells existed had been created to stand against specific forces that the inventor knew about.

It wasn't the most ironclad theory but, considering that death was possibly moments away for her, she didn't think anyone could fault her for it.

"You stay away from her, she-bitch!" Xander yelled from within his containment tube. "You so much harm one hair on her head and we'll see how many punches it takes to turn you into a greasy smear on the floor!"

"ReAlLy? ThEn I GuEsS yOu'Ll NeEd An ExAmPlE!" She-Bitch declared before going on the offensive. "RRAAGGHHH!"

With a spike of fear flowing through her, crimson energy exploded from her body in all directions and hit the oncoming threat directly. However all this managed to do was throw the overhead slash off course so that all it did was knock her to the floor with blood pouring from her shoulder. While she might be no stranger to pain since choosing to help Buffy fight the good fight, this was something far greater than she'd ever had to endure before. Moving the arm connected to the injured shoulder only made things worse so she left it hanging by her side as she struggled to get back to her feet. She could tell that the beast of a woman in front of her was not done yet and without her literal bag of tricks, she would be able to count on a second brush of good luck. All she had left was the chaotic crimson energy that seemed to pop up whenever her emotions got the better of her but it wasn't what you could call a reliable weapon.

Nevertheless, it was all she had.

"TiMe To DiE little GiRl!" She-Bitch yelled before lunging for the kill.

Zzzaaaakkkkk!

Through the ceiling a beam of yellow energy came down and, with the force of a tank shell, slammed the clawed combatant to the ground hard enough to bounce. Seconds later an odd sound filled the air and seemed to be coming ever closer but it wasn't until it was almost on top of them that her eyes fell upon the source. A humanoid suit of armor, a mix of gold and crimson, descended on pulses of neon blue energy until it landed in a defensive position in front of her.

"Sorry I'm so late, Wicked Witch," stated the armored man with a digitally distorted voice. "My armor only passed the final checks twenty-five minutes ago. Take a break. I'll handle things from here."

For a moment she didn't know who the man in front of her was but, when her mind finally realized what name he'd used for her, his identity became crystal clear.

"A.E.S.E?" she asked, almost unable to believe her hacker friend had created such a technological marvel.

"Yep. It's me," A.E.S.E replied, somehow conveying seriousness in his voice. "Though considering the crowd we're hanging with, you should probably call me by the hero name I came up with."

"WhO tHe HelL aRe YoU!" growled She-Bitch as she rose to one knee.

"Who am I?" A.E.S.E asked looking at his foe, "I am IRON MAN!"

_**Zealot's POV**_

_The battle does not go well. _She thought as she checked the number of rounds she had left in her assault rifle. _If I only had my blades then there would be no question as to the outcome of this battle._

She immediately shook such thoughts from her mind as they did not help the situation and, in fact, could lead to her downfall. A Coda warrior did not dwell on what could not be changed. They analyzed the battlefield and then began making plans to bring victory into their hands. Looking at the room around her, it was difficult to come up with a plan with so many unknown factors in play but she did know that they needed to dispense with the minor threats so that all power could be focus on the two major threats. That meant eliminating the Troika swiftly so she focused on what her eyes could see and what the last few minutes of battle could tell her about their newfound enhancements.

Attica was the first to be appraised by her due to the fact that she was forced to evade a flurry of energy blasts from his hands. When she'd seen him last, he was just another mercenary for hire who reveled in the death and destruction his profession exposed him to without even the slightest hint of remorse. The Cabal frequently hired them to raid military facilities or assassinate enemies Helspont considered irrelevant enough to not warrant his personal involvement but annoying enough to require elimination. Naturally he had not been more than an annoyance for her and had been swiftly dispensed with whenever she encountered him during a mission. Now, however, he was apparently enhanced with cybernetic implants that increased both his offensive and defensive capabilities by a factor of at least six by her estimation. The armor had already proven that it was impervious to the military weaponry she'd appropriated for her former captors but her keen eyes already knew the weak points. Both the sides of the head and the lower jaw appeared to be flesh and, even if there was metal beneath the skin, she doubted very much if it was durable enough to withstand bullets at close range.

The only question was how to get a clean shot on such small targets and not be interrupted by the chaos surrounding her.

Slag or, as he used to be called, Heinrich Hester, was now apparently a creature of rock, both molten and solid. This form bestowed upon him superhuman strength and she'd seen evidence that he could project streams molten rock but the ability hadn't been displayed openly yet. Slaying such a foe would likely require assistance since she doubted that she'd have much success even if she emptied an entire magazine into him. Looking about, she tried to find a suitable tool to bring about this enemy's end and it wasn't until she laid eyes on the final member of the group of minions that an idea occurred to her.

Charles "Chuck" Sweeney.

The man had been the explosives expert of the Troika and tended to think bigger was better in his line of work. The problem with that was that their tended to be a great deal of collateral damage when he was given leave to utilize his skills. While she could not be sure that the walking tank she saw on the other side of the room was indeed Sweeney, the armaments it was armed with certainly fit with what she knew of the low class scum. If she could somehow trick him into firing a powerful enough volley at Hester, perhaps at mid-range, it would remove the lava golem from the battlefield. A little careful manipulation could even remove the walking arsenal as well, or at least damage some of his weaponry reducing his threat level.

_It is a valid plan._ She thought before solidifying her resolve to see it through.

"Not smart to daydream in the middle of a fight, Coda **bitch**!" Attica said, launching another serious of attacks.

"I could be sleeping the sleep of the dead and still be more than you could handle," she said coldly back to him, evading his attacks with skill born of many centuries of experience. "Your false confidence in your new enhancements will be your downfall. Grifter! Change up!"

With the trust that had been cultivated through many years of partnership, she didn't even bother to look in Cole's direction before she tossed her assault rifle at him. When she felt the cold metal of two pistols fall into her empty hands, she smiled before charging her foe head-on, much to Attica's surprise. With an instinctive reaction her foe fired blasts of energy to stop her but they did no good and, once she was close enough, she leapt over his head. Just as she passed over him, though, she brought her pistols to bear and fired two rounds from each weapon into the exposed parts of his head. Thus it was with a warrior's satisfaction that her earlier hunch was proven correct in that whatever protection might have existed in the exposed portions of the mercenary's head they were insufficient to deflect bullets.

At least not entirely, that is.

Looking back at her foe, she could see the blood flowing from his head but the holes weren't deep and she could see signs of continued breathing, so he was alive. While her instincts as a Coda warrior told her to finish the killer for hire off, she knew she had to conserve ammunition for the other targets and, since Attica was unconscious, he was no longer an immediate threat. With that in mind she turned her attention to Sweeney, who still kept the costumed hero Batman occupied with variety of destructive weaponry. While not in possession of a great deal of information about the man, she knew that he went to great lengths to avoid doing serious harm to his foes. Whether the member of the Justice League knew that the mechanical being in front of her was in fact a cyborg or not, it did not matter. It was unlikely that he carried with him the necessary tools to defeat such a well-armed foe and so she ran to his side with the intention of enacting the second part of her strategy.

"Why don't you try facing a more worthy foe, Sweeney?" she asked with contempt as she came to a stop ten feet from the cyborg. "Or are you afraid to face me?"

Punctuating that statement with three precision shots to the glass eyes of her foe, she was gratified to see Sweeney turn and advance towards her. Gunfire with a few miniature missile thrown in were sent her way but, even with improved armaments, the half man before her still followed the habits he suffered from before he allowed parts of his humanity to be cut away. He did little, if anything, to hide where he was aiming and rarely tried to aim where she was going rather than where she'd been. As a result she had no trouble evading the incoming fire and only needed to prod the fool a few times to guide him towards his partner Hester. When the last couple of feet were successfully crossed, she did her best to position herself so that any firepower directed at her would successfully hit her desired target. All that was required now was provocation suitable enough to get Sweeney to unload a large portion of his arsenal at her.

"Your skill as a soldier has become even more deplorable since we last did battle," she said with disdain and contempt. "You are no longer worthy of my attention."

"THEN H.A.R.M. SHALL DO BETTER!" Sweeney said with his almost emotionless digitized voice. "DIE, ZEALOT!"

She could only smile as she flipped out of the way of the oncoming bullets and explosive projectiles, hearing rather than seeing them strike Hester. The screams of pain confirmed the success of her strategy and, when her eyes fell upon the lava golem, she knew that two of the three members of the Troika had been removed from the battlefield. Leaking molten rock rather than blood onto the floor, he was leaving holes and, before long, the large creature that Hester had become fell to the ground. Whether this meant he was dead or merely unconscious, she didn't know.

Nor did she particularly care.

She was a warrior of many centuries and had long ago accepted that death was always a possibility on the battlefield, both in the giving of it as well as in the receiving of it. Besides that, she had been taught that leaving a live enemy behind could prove to be a fatal error not just for her but for others as well. She doubted very much that the members of the Justice League would condone her tactics or point of view but she cared not since, in her opinion, they were almost foolishly optimistic. While not wrong to strive for a better world, it was a mistake to place too much faith in the better parts of human nature because it was far easier for most to succumb to their more selfish impulses. It would be a lie to say that she was always proven right but it happened often enough that she saw no reason to re-evaluate her view of the world.

_In any case, with the enemy number reduced from five to three, the battle is now even further in our favor._ She thought while evading an erratic retaliatory fire from Sweeney. _Soon an opportunity to rescue Alexander may appear and I __**will**__ be ready for it._

_**Xander's POV**_

_Mental note: do __**NOT**__ piss Zealot off._ He thought watching the second of the warrior woman's foes drop to the ground.

He had always known that the woman with the snowy hair was freakishly dangerous but what he saw now truly brought home just how lethal she could be. While the battle was far from done, his confidence in the good guys eventually winning was given a boost allowing him to calm down a bit. Up until then his fears for his friends had been growing and he'd been expecting the sensors monitoring him to trigger the knockout gas at any moment. Now that the enemy numbers had dwindled more, it became easier to calm himself, averting the emergence of the Hulk for the time being, as well as an unscheduled nap.

The fact that he couldn't quite decide if it'd be preferable to be conscious amidst all this chaos or unconscious was also a factor in his thought processes for a moment.

Things began to lean in favor of the latter when Captain Marvel hit the ground a bloody mess and stayed down. The guy with the lightning bolt on his chest still seemed to be breathing but the signs seemed to indicate that he'd be down for at least an hour or two, assuming he didn't bleed out first. That meant that Superman was facing off against the Queen Bitch of the baddies by himself while the others dealt with the muscled monster with scales that wasn't showing signs of going down soon. Checking on the status of the others, he could see that Zealot was working along with Cole and Batman to deal with the walking arms depot. It didn't look like that fight was going to last much longer but, in this case, 'the sooner, the better' was definitely his current mindset. Betty and the others were looking like they'd just fought off a bar full of bikers but they didn't look like they were in any immediate danger. As long as they didn't draw attention to themselves, he was pretty sure they'd be able to ride out the battle without absorbing further damage.

Vixen and Megan had recovered from their earlier introduction with the floor well enough to allow them to focus on the brutish scaled beast but, like before, while the force behind the blows were successfully transferred, no permanent damage was being done. Hearing an odd technological noise, he saw the unknown armored figure that had saved Willow take to the air to aid the defender of Metropolis in dealing the with leader of the baddies. He didn't know who the shellhead was but he was mighty grateful that he'd saved Willow so he hoped that nothing bad happened to him.

Looking over to his favorite redhead, he could see that she was being protected by Cessily and seemed to have some kind of gunk on her wound to keep it from bleeding any more. He didn't know what it was but, as long as it kept his best friend since footie pajamas alive and free of pain, he didn't care. He just hoped that none of the remaining villains targeted her again or the girl of liquid metal would be hard pressed to stand against them.

A smile came to his face as a combo of energy blasts, Superman's heat vision and Shellhead's palm blasters, sent the baddie bitch boss to the ground hard and clearly damaged.

"Give it up, lady," Shellhead said without pointing his weapons in a different direction. "Against me and Blue Boy here, you haven't got a chance."

The bitch growled at that but did not attack and so he figured that even someone as crazy mad as her knew when beating her head up against a wall for the umpteenth time wasn't going to do a damn thing. For a moment he thought that she'd do what most villains did when losing was inevitable, which was run away and, when with a blur of motion she disappeared, he was almost ready to relax. However his moment of relief lasted only that long before two screams shattered it like glass violently struck because he could identify their owners immediately.

Turning towards the source of the commotion, he saw a sight that shook him to the very core of his being.

Instead of fleeing, the monster had instead chosen to take a hostage and the unsuspecting one she had chosen was his best friend Willow, gripping his bestest bud by the neck with one hand while the other had its claws positioned over the chest area, doubling the chances for a lethal strike.

"Oh, I'd SaY tHaT I sTiLl HaVe A cHaNcE!" the demonness said with renewed confidence. "MoVe So MuCh As An InCh AnD tHiS gIrL dIeS!"

While he didn't trust the bitch to keep her end of the bargain, he was gratified to see both Superman and tech-clad man take on decidedly less aggressive postures. The crimson glare in the Man of Steel's eyes faded and the hovering armored man lowered his hands as the light being emitted from the palms faded.

"GoOd. ThE rEsT oF yOu Do ThE sAmE uNlEsS yOu WaNt Me To KiLl ThIs GiRl." The demonness said with a fang-filled smile.

One by one the ones that would've stood in her way stepped away from her with all signs of their intent to take action being reluctantly restrained.

"H.A.R.M! PiCk Up ThAt CuRsEd KhErAbIm CoMpUtEr uP." The demmoness ordered the damaged cyborg. "We'Re LeAvInG."

"UNDERSTOOD." H.A.R.M stated before lumbering over to the unconscious Void. "QUERY: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?"

"LeAvE tHeM. ThEiR wEaKnEsS sIcKeNs Me!" she replied as the former human lifted up his target.

"…UNDERSTOOD." H.A.R.M said with some reluctance before walking towards the hole in the wall that was nearest to the outside world.

Watching the foul female drag Willow with her towards the same hole her subordinate was moving towards, his heart prayed to any god or goddess that was listening that the situation would turn out the way he hoped it would. At that precise moment he didn't care if they lost here so long as Willow lived. Even if Void was taken away, there would be time to rescue her later but it was Willow who needed saving immediately. Watching as H.A.R.M transformed into some sort of vehicle with Void laying on top of it, he waited with baited breath for his childhood friend to be released. As mistress of the monstrous men stepped onto the back of her minion with her primary prey he waited for her to release Willow.

"YoU will ReGrEt LetTiNg Us Go, HeRoEs," she said with complete arrogance. "WhEn My LoRd HeLsPoNt FiNdS tHe OrB, yOu WiLl AlL dIE! UnTiL tHeN, hErE's A sNeAk PrEvIeW!"

The world did slow as he watched the foul female throw Willow through the air, with considerable force as well as speed, towards the wall furthest from anyone who could have intercepted her. A scream of denial echoed through the air and only peripherally did he recognize it as his own voice because at that moment what he was seeing took vast priority over what he heard. Seeing her impact the wall violently, he saw what his mind could only comprehend as blood splash from the places where Willow's body struck the wall.

Blood. So much **BLOOD!**

As her body fell to the floor and out of sight due to a mound of debris, cracks began to form in his mind as truth of the situation hit him right at the core of his soul.

Willow… his Willow… was dead.

When that concept fully manifested in his mind, the chains that he had forged these past few weeks shattered and a fury filled growl echoed within him.

Anger had set **it** free… and he couldn't say that he was going to try and stop it, either.


	12. Clash of the Powerhouses

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the sole property of their creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever and have no intention of doing so in the future. I write this because it's fun and because there are those who like reading my works. I would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from taking legal action against me. I can guarantee you that the money you get from me will not cover even a tenth of the legal costs involved on your end.

Note: Sorry for the long wait with this however I think you'll find it well worth the wait. I was writing the sequel to one of my most popular fanfics and wanted to reach a certain page count before getting to this one. The sequel will post soon but I want to get a little farther in the story before I do so.

_**Batman's POV**_

"Batman to Red Tornado. There's an airborne vehicle leaving the Embassy," he said after activating the comm device in his ear. "I want you to track it and dispatch Steel, J'onn and Captain Atom to pursue."

"On it. What's the situation where you are?" Reddy asked with his usual stoic stone.

"Flash is down and in the infirmary. Captain Marvel is down with serious injuries. The rest of us are in various states of injury but nothing too serious," he replied after surveying the occupants of the room. "Tell J'onn to exercise extreme caution if he is forced to engage. The leader of the group is strong, fast and somehow has the ability to negate invulnerability."

"Acknowledged. Red Tornado out." Reddy stated before the connection was cut.

With that he needed to turn to the task of seeing to the young woman Xander Harris had called Willow, since his information on the young man indicated they were quite close. While normally he would be confident in the sensors linked to the vents that would inject knockout gas the moment Alexander's agitation reached a certain level, a great deal of damage had been done. He could no longer be certain that all of the necessary systems were still operational enough to work the way they'd been designed to. With that being the case, he needed to do all he could to remove things that could get him excited or angry and a harmed friend would definitely do that.

Before he could take more than three steps, though, two of the remaining warning klaxons went off indicating that the sensors installed around Xander's containment tube had registered his vital signs entering the danger level. Turning around, he saw further proof of the escalating situation as his eyes fell upon the sight of a furious young man, whose eyes were beginning to take on an arcane green glow. As seconds ticked by he worried that perhaps the gas injectors had indeed been damaged but, when a white mist surged into the tube, he almost breathed a sigh of relief. While he could see some vents lacking the potent compound, enough of the substance was coming forth to put the young man to sleep. Indeed, as time passed, he could see signs of the drug taking effect and within seconds the boy from California would be asleep on the floor, not to awake for several hours.

At least that was what should have happened.

However instead what he saw was a struggle between two opposing forces.

On the one side was the knockout gas that had been specifically formulated by Dr. Hamilton for Xander in order to ensure that it would be quick to take effect. The few times before that Alexander's emotions had gotten the better of him to the point where it had been employed, the young man had dropped to the floor in less than five seconds.

On the other side, though, a glow that matched the green light in his eyes seemed to be fighting off the effects of the gas and, unless his eyes were misleading him, this ambiance seemed to be pushing the gas back like a strong current of air. If the effects were pushed back too far then the transformation into the Hulk would take place, adding one more problem to the list the League would have to deal with.

_I need to get Dr. Fate here quickly._ He thought as his deductive mind quickly determined that the light was magical in nature. _If he can counter this glow then the Hulk can be contained._

Almost in answer to his thoughts, an ankh of light appeared in the air and through it came the man who served the Lords of Order in the fight against the chaos that evil often inspired. He could only presume that the sorcerer had sensed what was happening somehow and had come to intervene.

"I trust you have a way to stop what's happening?" he asked as the man who floated to the ground beside him.

"Short of removing the cause of his rage? No." Dr. Fate replied with a troubled voice as he looked at Harris who was slowly beginning to increase in size.

"Then you need to examine his friend Ms. Rosenberg and heal her as best you can," he said, moving over to where the leather-clad woman had fallen. "His agitation rose sharply when she got hurt. If he sees that she's fine and that she'll make a full recovery then maybe—"

That was all he could say before an explosive shockwave surged outwards from the direction of Xander's containment tube accompanied by the shattering sound that had to be the tube itself. Considering that the substance it was made out have was supposed to be strong enough to take a brick of C4 with only scorch marks afterwards, this development was put right in his 'cause for concern' category.

An angry bellow that could very well have caused the walls vibrate with its volume rent the air, driving the point home as to who (and what) was awake and loose.

"We're too late." He said as he turned to see something he'd only seen in video recordings up until then.

Standing in the middle of the devastated containment tube was an eight foot tall jade giant with muscles that he'd only seen on the likes of Bane or Solomon Grundy. Worse than that was the fact that the look of utter fury on the giant's face hinted at a great deal of destruction in the near future that at the moment he did not have the means to prevent. As a strategic safeguard he'd spent countless hours making precautionary plans in case any member of the League ever went rogue and became a threat. He'd done the same for as many of the super criminals that existed in the world, whether he was likely to encounter them himself or not. Even with so little time to work with he'd already come up with five different ways of neutralizing the Hulk should Harris undergo the transformation again. Sadly he hadn't had the time to gather the necessary tools to employ four of them and the fifth one while plausible would take some time to put together.

"GGGLLLLOOOOORRRRYYY!" roared the Hulk and, without further delay, it pushed off the ground with his tree trunk legs, causing him to shoot through the roof of the embassy with all the subtlety of a giant cannonball.

"I'll go after him and try to stop him from causing too much damage." Superman said before flying through the gaping hole in the ceiling.

"Batman to Red Tornado. We're about to have a great deal of property damage done to the city," he said while mentally cringing at how much it'd cost Bruce Wayne when he donated funds to the rebuilding effort. "Dispatch evacuation teams one and three immediately."

"They will be transported to your location momentarily." Red Tornado said before the connection was severed.

Turning around, he looked to where Dr. Fate stood over the spot where Ms. Rosenberg had fallen and appeared to be administering some healing magic. He truly hoped that she was not seriously injured because the ideal situation would be for her to regain consciousness and be well enough that, when presented to the Hulk, it would calm the green goliath enough to induce a reversion to Xander. However when the man with the golden helmet stopped casting his magic upon the girl, he grew concerned since the wounds he'd deduced the girl must have received impacting the wall as she did should have required more energy to heal.

"Is there something the matter?" he asked as he approached the sorcerer.

"I…do not know." Dr. Fate replied in an uncertain voice, "Her wounds are healed but still she remains unconscious and not only that but what wounds she had were not near as serious as they should've been for such an impact."

As the young woman came into view, he found that there was indeed cause for concern but not necessarily for the same reason as Dr. Fate had already concerned. He had clearly seen the girl hit the wall and, sadly, was familiar with the amount of blood that was spilled as a result, but what he saw on the ground around the Sunnydale native was akin to a nasty head wound. When added to the fact that the friend of Xander Harris wasn't waking up despite the fact that Fate had taken care of her wounds and it did not bode well for his plan to calm the Hulk.

"Take her to the infirmary and continue working on her there," he said before taking a remote from his belt and clicking the button on it. "Unless another option presents itself, she might be the only way to stop the Hulk."

Hearing the familiar whine fill the air, he looked up to see the Batplane appear before a boarding line was lowered for him to grab onto. As he had done hundreds of times before, he used it to get onboard and, once inside, piloted the craft in the direction he'd seen the Hulk leap. Recalling the documentation that stated that the jade giant couldn't fly, he logically deduced that the emerald powerhouse was leaping and so directed his gaze to the ground below. He immediately spotted the first one but it took some time and effort to see the next one, implying that the Hulk's leaping distance was considerable. Movement ahead of him caught his attention and he watched as the being that was once Xander Harris leapt into the air, continuing in a western direction. Adjusting his heading to match, he considered the payload his aircraft had to see if he had anything that would do the least bit of good. Sadly from what he'd learned from Superman, the Hulk's durability was a match for the Boy Scout's, which meant short of a nuclear warhead, all he'd do would be annoy the mountain of muscle.

_Fortunately annoyance might be enough if I can get him to follow me out of the city._ He thought as he brought some of his more potent missiles online, _If Superman can add his strength to the equation, we should be able to keep the Hulk from getting distracted along the way._

That was assuming that whatever damage the female leader of the escaping group was insufficient to impair Clark's fighting capabilities to the point where he would be unable to face the Hulk. A blur of red and blue rising from the ground indicated otherwise as it left the jade giant's previous departure point, so he accelerated the Batplane in order to catch up. As fast as he was, though, he was no match for the leaping ability of the Hulk or Superman's own flight speed, so he'd need another way to make sure he didn't loose them once both his eyes and sensors failed.

"Batman to Red Tornado. Do you have a fix on aircraft that left the embassy?" he asked, tapping into the communications.

"Affirmative. It's on a western heading from the embassy with no sign of deviation." Replied Red Tornado through the speakers.

_Odd._ He thought as he looked at his scanners, _I thought at first that the Hulk was tracking them by sight but, if these readings are right, then the woman that took Flash out of the fight should be no more than a speck on the horizon to him._

This opened a new element to the scenario but the goal remained the same: capture the two criminals that'd fled the embassy, rescue the unknown women they'd taken prisoner and calm down the Hulk before he demolished a large portion of the city.

Not necessarily in that order, of course.

_**Nearing the Outskirts of the City, Later, Glorificus' POV**_

_This victory will secure for me a position as Helspont's second in command for sure!_ She thought with satisfaction as they approached the spot where she'd stored her shuttle. _Finally I will get all the power and influence I deserve!_

Standing regally atop H.A.R.M as the cyborg continued to fly through the air, she imagined the glorious future that was now hers. No more would she be treated as just a minion or even just one of a handful of enforcers! She would be who gave out the orders when Lord Helspont wasn't around and, should the leader of the Daemonite forces on Earth have an 'accident', then his position would become hers. After all, the trouble she'd gone through to retrieve the filthy Kherabim computer, it was only natural that she receive such a reward.

As soon as she got back to the Daemonite flagship her hard times would finally be over with and her time enjoy the benefits of the powerful would begin.

"WARNING! INCOMING-!" H.A.R.M declared before being rather forcefully interrupted.

Having something slam into you made the interruption somewhat understandable but she'd still turn him into spare parts for not evading the incoming form. Her focus was quickly changed to the rat that dared to attack them when the two of them slammed into the street with the cyborg and the Kherabim computer crashing a short distance away. Lashing out with a back fist, she felt it connect, forcing whoever had attacked her off and, when she got to her feet, it was a mix of feelings that rose within her when she saw who her new target was.

She felt anger at her victory being spoiled

However she also felt joy at the chance to finally settle a score with a certain green gnat.

Standing across from her in torn pants and not much else was the Hulk, looking like he wanted nothing more than to throw down with her.

"GRRRRRR!" Hulk growled loud enough to make one think it came from something ten times his size.

"So YoU dEcIdEd To ShOw Up AfTeR aLl, BiG gUy!" she said with growing bloodlust. "GoOd! I'Ll CaRvE yOu Up BeFoRe DeLiVeRiNg ThAt PiEcE oF kHeRaBiM tRaSh To LoRd HeLsPoNt!"

She charged him and delivered a punch she was sure would tear right through him since, in her transformed state, her powers were easily ten times what they were when she was confined to that human appearance. While the punch she'd hit him with back at the construction site might have only been enough to make him take a step back, this one would kill him in one shot. As the force transferred from her fist to the Hulk's body, she was only slightly disappointed when instead of going through his stomach it merely sent him crashing through several buildings. So severe was the damage done by his passing that more than a few of them collapsed to the ground but she barely thought of that. She waited to see if the dumb brute would get back up and she wasn't disappointed when, seconds after the last building crumbled, the debris exploded outwards to reveal a still furious Hulk.

This time it was him who attacked with speed born of his obscenely large muscles.

Amused by the very idea that this peon could harm, her she braced herself a bit and let the hit land.

No one was more surprised than her when not only did the punch send her through twice as many buildings as her punch had sent the Hulk, but his blow actually HURT!

Rising to her feet, she could tell immediately that, while the pain existed, there were no complications as far as movement and strength was concerned. With that in mind she ran forward at super speed until she stood no more than ten feet from the monstrous man, a smile on her face that would pierce anyone's heart with fear.

"LoOkS lIkE sOmEoNe hAs GoTtEn StRoNgEr!" she said as she caught a surprise punch from the Hulk with one hand. "LeT's SeE hOw MuCh StRoNgEr!"

The brute obliged her when he tried to hit her with his other fist but, like the first, she caught it as well and so the contest of strength began. Minutes passed as they pit their strength against one another, each using more and more of the power their bodies possessed in order to defeat their foe. However, whether it was due to the shoddy materials used to construct the road or the simple fact that the green moron was indeed stronger, she felt herself being pushed back faster and faster as the seconds ticked by. It was in anger that she switched from a contest of strength back to an actual battle as she let go of one fist and, after ducking under the fool's guard, slammed her fist into his jaw, sending him straight up into the air. Leaping up to follow, she managed to use her superior speed to pass him slightly, allowing her to deliver an axe kick to sending him plummeting back down to the unforgiving ground below.

Landing back on the ground, she smiled at the fact that she'd managed to recover from the defeat in strength with that latest combination attack. Sadly it proved to be insufficient as a green fist punched through the shattered pavement, allowing the rest of the body to pull itself back to the surface. In minutes the status quo was restored with her facing off against the Hulk and, while her confidence in her victory remain as solid as ever, annoyance began to creep into her mind. Who did this fool think he was thinking he could challenge her? She was the great Glorificus of the Daemonite army and had personally crushed armies beneath her feet! No one mortal, no matter how impressive he might have been to its kind, was fit to square off against her much less insult her by thinking they could defeat her!

Time to put this annoying flee in his place! She thought before saying, "YoU mAy Be StRoNgEr ThAn Me BuT LeT's SeE iF YoU'rE FASTER!"

With that she pushed her levels of speed to their maximum and moved so fast that to her the Hulk might as well have been standing still. With strength only a little less than what she'd been using up until then, she delivered blow upon blow to the oversized monkey with a punch, sending the fool into a kick, only to be sent to the ground with an elbow. She didn't stop there though and for what had to be five minutes for the monkeys who couldn't keep up with her movements she continued to beat the stupid giant into his place. By the time she slid to a stop teen feet away from him, she could only smile as she watched the Hulk drop to one knee as a result of her attack.

It was a fitting position for a member of an inferior species if she did say so herself.

"ThAt'S rIgHt, DoG! kNeEl!" she declared with supreme victory in her voice.

In response the beast of a man raised his head to look at her, the green flames of fury still burning in his eyes, but she was not worried. As far away as he was she'd be able to counter him before he got even a step and so she waited to see what pathetic next act would be before she put an end to this confrontation.

What came next she did not see coming.

Instead of charging her in order to close the distance between them, he merely held his arms out to the side for a moment before clapping his hands together with unbelievable force. Shockwaves were produced that struck her as hard as any physical blow and let loose a wave that tore up the street and created cracks in the closest buildings from top to bottom. Disorientation reigned in her mind for a time and, by the time it cleared, all she could see was a large green hand reaching for her head. Acting on instinct she kicked out with her right leg, striking the ground and sending herself upwards into the sky, allowing her to evade the Hulk's giant hand. She came down just in time to see the jade giant impact a building demolishing it in the process.

Just as was done before, though, the brute's strength allowed him to erupt from the rubble with barely a few second's pause.

In that time she determined that it was time to end this little fight rather than risk further humiliation as a result of this fool's primitive attacks. With the strength born of that resolve she tapped into her speed once more before attacking her foe with all of her strength and targeting the most important parts of a human's body. Head, spine and ribs were targeted for shattering while her claws went to work destroying all the organs they could reach. It got to the point where she became covered from head to toe in the Hulk's green blood and it was with satisfaction that she watched the brute finally drop to the ground. Breathing hard at the exertion of beating the crap out of the Hulk, she couldn't help but start to chuckle as she didn't see any sign of the moron getting back to his feet.

"SeRvEs HiM rIgHt!" she declared before turning to where she'd seen that cyborg and the Kherabim computer fall.

She got all of ten feet before sounds of movement reached her.

At twenty feet the faint sound of growling assailed her sense of hearing, stopping her in her tracks.

It was when the ground shook in a pattern consistent with footsteps that she turned around to see a sight that both surprised her and infuriated her at the same time.

The Hulk was back on his feet and the wounds she had caused him were healing themselves at an unbelievable rate of speed.

It was with this sight that she first began to feel as though her victory might not be as certain as she'd thought.

_**Superman's POV**_

_This is…this is terrible! _He thought as he looked down at the devastation caused by the two powerful combatants in the twenty minutes it took to catch up to the two of them.

Grimacing as the pain from the wounds the lizard woman had given him back at the embassy, he knew that he had to bring this fight to an end as soon as possible. Both the Hulk and the shapeshifting woman were powerhouses on par with himself but there was important difference. The former was so full of fury and a desire for revenge that it was impossible for concern for civilians to enter his mind. The latter had already shown a monstrous disregard for human life and he saw no reason to believe that that would change anytime soon. Between two such titans he feared that half the city would be destroyed before a victor finally emerged from their battle and that was something he could not allow.

Using his vision powers, he found them quickly and, much to his surprise, it looked as though the lizard woman had the Hulk on the defensive. It appeared that, for all the Hulk's strength, the giant didn't have the reflexes or the speed needed to keep up with the bloodthirsty woman. This fact didn't stop the behemoth of a man from trying or prevent him from utilizing primitive techniques centered on using brute strength to bridge the gap. As a result he was doing more damage to his surrounding environment than to his desired target.

"This ends NOW!" he said as he drew upon all of the speed he possessed and shot down towards the lizard woman.

Knowing his first blow would have to be the most effective and so he made sure to punch her in such a way so as to send her body right into the oncoming fist of the Hulk. When she then went back his way he delivered a double axe handle with a level of strength he usually reserved for Darkseid. As a result his foe hit the ground hard enough to leave an impression that was two feet deep all around. Landing a short distance away, he waited to see if the team up between him and the Hulk, however brief it was, was enough to truly end the fight. What he didn't expect, though, was for the Hulk to continue the assault, delivering earth shaking blow after earth shaking blow upon the object of his rage with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"Hulk! Stop! She's beaten. It's over." He said trying to keep the giant young Alexander had become from doing something the Californian might regret later.

No sign of acknowledgement was given by the behemoth, no disruption in the pummeling pattern he'd settled into and definitely no articulation beyond grunts of rage-filled effort. Believing he needed to get the powerhouse's attention, he used a combination of speed and strength to grab one of the Hulk's arms before it could complete it's descent towards its target. Shock dominated him, though, when despite his efforts the blow continued on course with virtually no sign that his action had made any difference whatsoever.

The sheer POWER that the Hulk possessed now!

It quickly started looking like simply restraining him isn't going to be enough. Using his superior speed to get behind the jade giant, he used all the strength he could to place the mountain of muscle in a full nelson. Then, once he was sure that the position was locked in, he took to the sky, intent on getting the man out of the city where the risk to civilian lives and property would be kept to a minimum. It took a monstrous effort to keep the hold intact and that surprised him since this particular technique was specifically allow the user to maintain complete control over whomever they used it on, no matter their strength level. Nevertheless he was determined to keep any more damage from befalling the city and so did everything he could to keep the hold from breaking as he set course for the quickest route to the city limits.

He got all of twenty feet in the right direction before something hit him in the back of the head, loosening his grip on the Hulk before both of them plummeted to the ground below. After touchdown it took him awhile to clear his head but, when it was clear, he looked up to see that the lizard women standing before him.

"If YoU wAnTeD tO jOiN iN, AlL yOu HaD tO dO wAs AsK!" she said before grabbing him by the throat before he could stop her.

Out of reflex, as well as for more practical concerns, he tried to wrench open the vice-like grip around his throat as the woman was proving more thank capable of choking him with her level of strength. In a move born of confidence he opened his eyes and let loose a blast of heat vision directed at the woman's offending arm that was strong enough to make Darkseid feel it. It proved enough as, with a scream of pain, the lizard woman released him allowing him to put some distance between the two of them while he massaged his sore neck.

_How could she have recovered from the Hulk's blows that quickly?_ He asked since his mind could not comprehend recovery happening in less than five minutes.

"ThAt HuRt, BlUeBoY!" yelled the lizard woman as the damage done to the arm slowly regenerated, "I wAs PiSsEd EnOuGh FrOm ThE pUnCh BuT nOw I wOn'T rEsT uNtIl YoUr BlOoD dEcOrAtEs ThE eNtIrE sTrEeT!"

No more time was left for words after that as he was soon forced into a fight that pushed his speed and his strength more than halfway to his limits. Sadly the wounds he had suffered from his earlier confrontation with the monstrous woman was causing his body to increasingly protest the strain he was putting on it. Nevertheless he could not afford to oblige those protests since anything less than his current efforts would result in the battle leaning decidedly in the woman's favor. He made several attempts to take to the sky, since the woman didn't seem to possess the power of flight, but every time he did she managed to grab him by the leg and slam him back to the ground. It was only his years of experience as a superhero that allowed him to get back to his feet in time to prevent her from capitalizing on his momentarily vulnerable position.

_I'm going to need some help on this one!_ He thought as the fight took a momentary pause while both the lizard woman and him caught their respective breaths.

As if in answer to his request, his ears picked up the sound of two items approaching at high speed and he looked up to spot an old friend coming to his aid.

_Perfect timing as always, Bruce._ He thought as the missiles struck his foe directly.

However, as the smoke from the explosion cleared, his eyes saw no appreciable damage done to the bloodthirsty woman but a marked increase in her fury.

"AlRiGhT! nOw, WhO dId-?" the lizard woman asked before she was interrupted by another pair of missiles that slammed into her just as she finished turning to face them.

Seeing the Batplane streak by before beginning its turn for another pass, he knew that he had to give Batman time to prepare another volley since it would be all too easy to knock the craft from the sky for the female powerhouse. Deciding to try a different tactic then hand-to-hand combat, he sucked in as much air as he could before unleashing a stream of super cold air that began to encase the woman in ice. From every possible angle he made sure to make it no less than two feet thick and added additional layers as fast as he could. When he was satisfied with the thickness he hovered twenty feet in front as well as above his foe as he waited to see how effective his efforts would be.

He wasn't given the chance as it was then that the Hulk rejoined the fray, tackling the ice encased woman, shattering her prison and bringing her hard to the ground. It was a surprise to see someone so fixated on destroying an enemy that it was willing to sacrifice all else in order to achieve their goal. The Hulk managed to get a single blow in on his foe before she kicked him off, causing him to fly back a dozen feet before landing on the ground. Both of them were back on their feet within seconds but before the ruthless woman could use her super speed again the Hulk took action to prevent it.

"HULK…**SMASH**!" roared the Hulk before bringing both clenched fists slamming into the ground.

So powerful was the technique that the ground shook as it would if the area was experiencing an earthquake. It caused so much upheaval with the ground beneath their feet that the lizard woman's footing was lost, depriving her of her super speed until she regained her footing.

That was something that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, not if the Hulk had any say about it, judging from the thunderous uppercut the giant delivered before following his prey into the sky.

_Just how strong is the Hulk?_ He thought as he took to the sky himself.

_**Megan Morse's POV, JLU Embassy, Minutes Before**_

_I have to stop… Xander._ She thought getting up from the obliterated floor of the Embassy, _He needs to know the truth!_

Stumbling a bit as she stood, she was forced to admit that while she'd been able to heal most of the damage done by that lizard bitch, she hadn't completely shaken it off. There was indeed something unnatural about that wench because never before in her entire life had she had such difficulty healing an injury. Despite the lingering pain and weakness, though, she could not let it stop her from getting to Xander and letting him know that his friend Willow was still alive. Even if she had to use her shapeshifting ability to impersonate the young woman she would do it if only to ease the pain that now existed in his heart. She had felt it all too well, in spite of the state she'd been in, the pain, the all-consuming rage, and it had touched her deeply how much Xander loved Willow. It wasn't the kind of love that a boyfriend had for a girlfriend but rather what a brother had for a little sister. Indeed it gave her a goal beyond simply getting away before the League somehow figured out the truth about her.

_Doesn't mean I can drag my heels, though._ She thought as she willed herself to rise into the air, _The longer Xander goes without the truth, the more damage he'll do to the city. Damage he'll blame himself for._

"Where are you going? You're still hurt!" Cessily asked as she finished pulling her liquid metal form together.

"I've got to let Xander know that his friend's still alive," she said as she willed her body to do what she wanted it to. "As mad as he is right now, it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed as a result of something he does as the Hulk. If he finds out he's killed someone…it'll tear him apart!"

"Look, I know you're sweet on the guy but things are going to get seriously crowded here soon." Cessily said as she began to look about for new arrivals, "Most of the Leageuers are gone but that doesn't mean more aren't on the way. Time for us to leave."

"No. I get where you're coming from but even if it means they find out the truth about me I have to help Xander." She said with a resolve that surprised even her.

Around the club she'd always been known as something of a flirt who never really got serious about any man outside from a little fun in the bedroom. The reason for this has always been to protect her secret and the fear of what would likely happen if the truth were to become known to one and all. She knew that her people did not have the most favorable reputation among the races of the galaxy, she knew they had done terrible things, but she was the exception to this rule. She had been sent away when she was very young and barely had any memories from before she'd been placed into her small ship. She remembered fire, she remembered shouts of both anger as well as suffering, but most of all she remembered her parents placing her in the ship with the false promise that they would follow.

They were not typical of their people any more than she was.

"Man, you must have it bad for that guy," Cessily sighed with a defeated tone of voice. "Fine! We'll go after him but you better be ready for the consequences that I just **know** are coming."

"Thanks, Cessily!" she said with genuine gratitude before she picked up her friend and the two of them rose into the sky.

It didn't take long for her to find out which direction she should go in; all she needed to do was look for the plumes of smoke and dust ascending into the sky. With a direction in mind she flew towards it as quickly as she could with her current injuries and while carrying a person. As she got closer and closer to where the action was, she saw and even heard the level of destruction increasing with every minute. Her sharp eyes even let her see someone who could only be the Man of Steel himself duking it out either with Xander or with that crazy blonde bitch that had hurt Xan's friend. Between all of them they were seriously putting a dent in the city's buildings and, after seeing two puffs of smoke mid-air, she realized that Batman was involved as well.

_Don't see why he bothers, though._ She thought dismissively as she continued to head towards the battlefield, _There's no way the guy has some kind of missile or weapon capable of hurting lizard lady or the Hulk._

It was as she was about to break off her visual survey of the area that she spotted something that could not be ignored any more than Xander could. A short distance away from the epicenter of the fighting, the walking munitions cache was approaching a still unconscious Void and with that she knew that their single objective had just doubled.

"Cessily! You need to stop that walking can opener from getting away with Void." She said as she altered her course a bit in preparation to drop her friend.

"Leave it to me!" Cessily declared before being dropped to the street below.

With less weight slowing her down, she veered back towards the center of the battlefield just in time to see something shoot into the sky to be quickly followed by a larger green something. It was only when the second form caught up to the first one and threw it back to the ground with enough force to create ripples in the air. It looked like a meteor had just fallen to Earth with the way the impact rippled outwards from where the first form was thrown to the ground, displacing debris and destroying what walls remained standing. Taking in the entire battlefield as a whole, the importance of stopping the fight as soon as possible increased as she realized that the property damage was only going to get worse the long it went on. She didn't even want to think about how many people might have been hurt or even killed since the fighting began. She could only hope that most of the people in the area had evacuated after the first earthquake-like impact, otherwise Xander wasn't going to get out of guilt pit for a couple of months at least. She'd known from the moment she'd first spoken to him that he was the sort of person that took it hard when people got hurt because of him.

_I… I won't let him suffer any more than necessary!_ She said descending towards the spot just in front of the Hulk.

"Xander! Stop this!" she yelled as she touched down, "Willow isn't dead! She's alive and she's gonna be fine!"

Looking into the face of the Hulk, she couldn't help but be a bit afraid of the fury that was firmly etched on his face. It looked as though he could break the entire planet in two if he wanted but she knew that if she could just get rid of the source of his rage then it'd all be over with.

"I'm telling you the truth, Xander! Dr. Fate healed her all up and she's resting back at the Embassy." She declared once more before taking a step towards him, "You don't need to be angry anymore!"

"Oh, So ThE little SlUt Is StIlL alive?" asked the blonde bitch as she shakily got back to her feet, "GuEsS i'Ll HaVe To PaY hEr A vIsIt LaTeR. MaKe ThE pAiN gO aWaY…pErMaNeNtLy!"

Before she could say anything to the contrary, the fury on the Hulk's face surged and, with speed that didn't seem possible for one his size, he leapt over her to pummel the lizard lady.

_DOES THAT BITCH HAVE A FUCKING DEATHWISH!_ She thought in utter and complete shock.

Her hopes of ending this fight quickly had been shattered since she figured it was safe to say that so long as the blonde bitch lived, Xander was going to continue to go after her with every ounce of fury he had. Covering her face in order to protect it from the debris from the blows the Hulk, she had to wonder if she should take things to the next step and try to telepathically reach within the giant's mind to simply switch off the rage. It would swiftly end the problem but at the same time it would also break one of her personal rules about entering a good person's mind without permission. Ever since she learned she had telepathy, she'd worked hard to control it and had made her own rules about when it was permissible for her to use it.

In this case, regrettably, things hadn't degenerated to the point where forcefully entering Xander's mind could be permitted.

_I sure as hell hope that everyone around here has good insurance because they're going to need it._ She thought before deciding to go and see if Cessily needed any help.

She wasn't suicidal enough to try and get in the middle of a three way fight between the Hulk, Superman and the blonde bitch.

Now, if she had to outperform them back on stage at the club they'd only make fools of themselves trying to beat her.

Then again she wouldn't mind watching them try from a stage-side seat and a fist full of one dollar bills! A girl could dream right?

_**Unknown Place, Willow's POV**_

_I could SO use a map right now!_ She thought angrily as she looked about the forest paths once more not finding a single clue to indicate whether or not she'd made any progress.

It felt like hours since she woke up in this place, not knowing how she'd gotten here and, ever since then, she'd done her best to figure out how to get back to the Embassy to save Xander. Her mind was clouded somewhat but she knew that the last thing she could recall clearly was trying to rescue her best friend from the Justice League. They'd had that creepy demonness on the ropes but then she managed to get herself taken hostage again, just like back in Sunnydale. She… didn't remember what happened after that but then she woke up in the forest with well-used dirt paths and had devoted all her time since trying to get out of the forest. Sadly no matter what maze-solving method or logical course of action she tried, she always seemed to end up back at this crossroads. She was beginning to get seriously angry at the whole situation since she got the distinct impression that there was something important that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

_Well, I'm not going to get anything done the normal way. _She thought as she sat down in the middle of the crossroads, _Time to give magic a try._

There wasn't much she could do without any sort of supplies but there was one spell that hopefully wouldn't fail her.

"Aradia, goddess of the lost. The path is murky. The woods are dense. Darkness pervades. I beseech thee… Bring the light!" she chanted with supreme focus as she worked to channel the magic she needed.

She waited to see the little speck of light that had followed the chanting the last time she'd used this spell but, after a full minute of nothing, she wondered if she'd made a mistake somewhere. Mentally going over each page of the book where she'd found the spell, she examined every memory for possible faulty information. In the end she couldn't find any mistakes so that made her wonder why the spell hadn't worked. Was she someplace that had some kind of magic dampening field in place? If so, she'd probably have to put out two or three times as much magic in order to get the desired result.

Taking a moment to attain the necessary degree of concentration and focus, she drew upon the magic within her and repeated the incantation to bring forth a guide to show her the way out of this forest.

Nothing!

"What the heck am I doing wrong?" she muttered to herself with a bit of discouragement.

"Well, for one thing, little lady, you are trying to force your logic on a place that defies logic." Came a rasping and cracking voice from behind her.

Squeaking in surprise at the unexpected voice she whirled around to find an old man in robes that wouldn't be out of place on Friar Tuck. He looked at her with a kindly face that somewhat reminded her of her grandfather and that did take care of some of the anxiety she was feeling. The fact that he wasn't setting off any of her usual Sunnydale warning senses was also a vote in his favor.

"What do you mean?" she asked interested in getting whatever help she could.

"This forest is a place that, unlike what you're used to, wasn't made with logic in mind." The old monk replied with a kind grin, "Instead it relies more on instinct, on emotions that are at their highest level, in order to find your way out."

"What kind of crazy place is built like that?" she asked unable to fathom how a place could be constructed with such random elements.

"A place where logic is but a concept and everything shifts based on a person's individual perception," the old man shrugged as he folded his arms within the sleeves of his robe. "But perhaps a more visual example will help you understand."

With a nod implying something was behind her, she turned and saw that a small crackling fire had appeared out of nowhere, bathing the area around it with its light. Funny thing about it was that the fire was more crimson then the usual orange-red that she was used to seeing but her science classes had taught her that a flame could be different colors depending on the fuel used.

"If you look at the way the flames dance in the wind, you can see that there is no way that a logical mind can precisely predict which way it will go or what form it will take from one second to the next," explained the old man, pointing at the fire. "However, if a gifted mind looks at it long enough, their instincts can discern what the logical limited mind cannot."

"So basically I should look at the fire until my instincts can figure out the way out of here?" she asked deciding to pull a Xander and dumb things down.

"To put it in simplest terms, yes," the old man said, looking a little unhappy that his sage advice had been reduced to something so ordinary.

She considered what the man had to say and, while it went against everything she had been taught about magic and doing things in general, at this point she was willing to give anything a shot. Sitting down next to the fire, she looked into the flames and tried to let all reason fall away so that instinct and emotion could have their way. It was beyond hard because, whether she consciously willed it or not, her mind acted of its own accord attempting to construct logical patterns or reason out the pattern behind the movements of the flames. With will alone she did her best to stop her mind and, while she could feel that the progress was slow, she did come closer to realizing it with every minute that passed.

So focused was she on her task that she didn't register the eyes of the monk turning into orbs of yellow light, nor see his kind one turn into one that could only be considered pure evil. As his form turned into a foul black mist to be blown away on the wind, one could hear an evil chuckle on the wind and its fading as the seconds ticked by made it sound all the more malevolent.

What this boded for the future none could tell but it would be marvelous one way or another.

_**Tony Stark's POV, Hovering Above the Embassy**_

"Jarvis, give me a damage report." He said as he used his sensors to monitor the big fight continue from a distance.

"Moderate damage to exterior armor. I was forced to reroute pour through secondary power couplings after severe damage was done by female hostile's claws." Jarvis replied as images cited the status of the armor. "Primary systems are fluctuating but still within acceptable parameters. Secondary systems have been reduced to one third functionality but nano-repair systems are working on that dilemma. Estimated time to full repair two hours thirty-seven minutes."

"Not a problem." He said as he winced at yet another building biting the dust.

_This is going to be hell on the insurance companies._ He thought as he continued to gather information before choosing a course of action, _Here's hoping Dad didn't skimp on insuring any Stark Enterprises assets in this city._

It was, however, as he broadened the range on his suit's sensors that something odd registered for a second or two that caught his attention. It was an odd concentration of particles just on the outskirts of the city that, for some reason, his systems could not classify but just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. What bothered him besides the fact that his computer couldn't classify the particles was the fact that it formed a perfectly spherical shape without any imperfections that he could see. There was no way that it was a natural phenomenon, meaning something unnatural must floating outside the city and, considering what was going on in the city, he didn't think anyone would like surprises showing up at the last second. With that conclusion reached, he took off towards the location of the particles, taking steps along the way to mask his approach just in case the anomaly turned out to be a threat.

Using the buildings as cover, he also brought what stealth capabilities he'd installed in his armor online in the hopes of preventing any sensors from picking him up. He doubted that he'd be able to do more than prevent a precise lock given the sheer level of tech he suspected the unknown entity possessed. As he zipped through the maze made up of the streets and alleyways of the city, he utilized every opening he could to conduct further scans of the area where the anomaly was. It didn't reappear so instead he focused on the area around it because, no matter how well it could hide itself from its sensors, it would still have an effect on the surrounding environment. At the same time he connected to the nearest Stark Enterprises satellite and initiated a series of commands to focus its sensor array on the same spot. It didn't take long for it to be repositioned, given the importance of this part of America, and immediately he had it do a detailed scan of the area the anomaly was located in. It would take at least fifteen minutes for preliminary results to show themselves so until then he would have to be satisfied with what his armor could tell him.

It was about ten minutes later that he finally reached the outskirts of the city but rather than fly out in the open where everyone could see him he set own in an alley.

_Alright, time to play 'what do I know'._ He thought as he pulled up the readings he'd managed to take so far. _Whatever is being concealed is easily the size of a battleship and to conceal something of that size beneath some kind of cloaking field means a pretty impressive power source. If they put all the power they're using for the cloaking field into their weapon systems, this could get ugly._

With that in mind he decided that he wouldn't wait for the Stark satellite to send him the preliminary results of its scans. He took to the air with the intent of piercing the cloaking field and getting a good look at what was within. If it turned out to be what his paranoia thought it was, then the League would have to call in every member it had and any allies it had in order to keep the city from being wiped from the face of the planet.

"Sorry, tin man, but that place is members only!" came voice just before struck him in the spine and sent energy coursing through his suit.

He managed to do one barrel roll in order to dislodge his uninvited guest but still crashed to the ground below before his armor could reroute the necessary systems. Getting back to his feet as quickly as he could, he turned to face his foe and found a man clad from head to toe in a mix of black and red body armor as well as gear commonly seen on most soldiers. He couldn't ID the man due to a mask that covered his entire head, but he was dangerous to some level, judging from the metal staff that sparked with crimson, light indicating that it was what had disrupted his systems so badly.

"That's a big stick you got there." He said as he used his suit's sensors to get a read on the weapon, "Might you compensating for something, hmmm?"

"Big talk coming from some wannabe playing at being the hero," replied the masked man, sounding like the jibe didn't phase him in the least.

"That's 'wannabe-with-enough-firepower-to-take-out-a-regiment' to you, pal." He replied as he used his advanced intellect to make sense of what his sensors were telling him.

"Weapons are only as good as the person who uses them, kid." The masked man said giving his staff a casual twirl, "You can put the most powerful weapon on the planet into the hands of an idiot and he'll still lose. Just like YOU!"

With that the time for talk was over with and the man attack with surprising speed using his staff, managing to land a glancing blow before he could use his boot jets to get some distance. Bringing up his palm repulsors, he unleashed a barrage with the intent of finishing the fight quickly before this unknown man could report his presence to what was likely behind the cloaking field. He was now certain that a ship of some kind was within the field and that this man was meant to be a watchdog to make sure that no one stumbled across it by choice or by accident. However, much to his surprise, the man managed to block each and every bolt with his staff without so much as a scratch to show for it.

"Okay…that was impressive." He stated a little stunned by what he'd seen before charging in to put his martial arts training to good use.

True, he hadn't had an opportunity to try it out in the armor yet but he was fairly sure that he could use it without killing the masked man before him.

Throwing a punch first, it missed but he quickly turned it into an elbow shot that failed to connect as well and, in return, he received a sold blow with the staff to the stomach that sent him flying into the air. He landed a little over ten feet away with the same disruption of his armor's systems as before. They still corrected themselves quickly but it was only a matter of time before he suffered a serious enough blow that would prevent him from continuing the fight. If that happened no one would find out what he'd learned until it was too late.

_Not going to happen! _He thought as his resolve became as strong as his armor, _It'd completely ruin my debut as Iron Man!_

Using his onboard targeting system, he programmed a series of targets and had his system take over aiming and firing since it would be much quicker than anything his human reflexes and speed could manage. Initiating the program, he watched as his armor unleashed the barrage of seven shots from his palm repulsor but was less than satisfied to see less than half the shots actually strike their target. Still, it was more acceptable than everything being blocked and at the strength level he'd set the strikes at he wouldn't be surprised if there were a few broken bones.

"Don't get too proud of your lucky hits, rookie." The masked man said as he steadied his stance, "You're still nowhere near my league!"

With speed above that which should have been possible, his costumed foe charged him and managed to cross the distance before a new firing solution could be created. Reflexively taking to the air in the hopes that the masked man couldn't follow, he was unprepared when his opponent threw his energized staff at him with such speed that no mere human could see more than a blur. Striking him just below the center of his chest, he was treated to pain beyond anything he had ever felt before as the energy began damage the sole thing keeping him alive after the accident overseas four years ago. Dropping to the ground as his primary source of power chaotically fluctuated, he tried to form the words to initiate an emergency reroute of the nano-repair systems but the pain he felt had frozen his movements.

"Hmph…that was hardly any challenge at all." The masked man's voice came through the barely functional audio systems.

As he heard the man walk away and felt the pain numb somewhat he knew he had to give it all he could to get back on his feet.

"J-Jarvis…initiate e-emergency repair…protocols!" he managed to bite out as consciousness began to fade.

"C-command a-a-acknowledged sir." Came the voice of his suit's A.I.

With that he lost the battle with consciousness and faded from the world.

_**Somewhere in Kentucky**_

He watched.

Watched as the warrior with the crimson cape soared off to the east.

_That should be enough of a delay for my allies to do what they need to do._ He thought with a playful smile as he looked down at the remains of the demons he'd hired, _It'll also throw something of a road block in the way of those offworld fools._

Indeed, while amusing to see what changes the world had undergone since the last time he'd walked amongst the commoners, the aliens were an annoying obstacle to his plans for the future. When he'd noticed all the threads converging on one point and that it involved his idiot of a brother, he couldn't help but involve himself. However he could not take direct action since he knew that his father would be closely watching over this period of change. Therefore he had covertly hired some of the stronger demons that existed and whose appearance would not be seen as noteworthy or worth investigating. True, he'd had to give them some enchanted weaponry and armor to actually prove a challenge to the favored son of his father but they had succeeded in their task.

Instead of reaching the champion of Gaea immediately, the demons had succeeded in delaying the thunder god for five days over the distance of four states.

_They're all dead, of course, but there are few who can match my step-brother in the arena of battle._ He thought as he turned away from what remained of the battlefield, _In a battle between Thor and myself, though, it is I who is superior with my superior intellect and strategic sense._

Believing it would be amusing to watch the results of his manipulations, the god of mischief Loki teleported ahead of his brother with his magic, leaving not but rapidly decomposing demonic corpses behind.


	13. The End of the Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They belong only to their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I write only because there are those that enjoy my work and because I find writing fanfic fun. Therefore I would appreciate it if the creators and associated companies didn't send their corporate lawyers after me to file a lawsuit. I can guarantee that anything you get from me won't even cover the first day of the lawyer fees.

_**The Badly Damaged Streets of Washington, One Hour Later, Glory's POV**_

Her self-confidence had taken some serious hits in the last hour but she refused to let her mission end in failure.

These… these… TERRANS were actually managing to injure her and were it not for her own regenerative power, she would have been defeated the first time they teamed up to fight her. With it, though, she most she was managing was a stalemate and that would not do one little bit. Helspont would not wait forever for the Kherabim computer and if she was late, it wouldn't matter if she delivered the package or not. In the Daemonite Lord's mind nothing less than elite would do for his army and if a member was found wanting, steps would be taken to make sure they were never wanting again.

EVER!

However, try as she might to figure out a way to dispense with the duo once and for all, nothing came to mind besides hoping that one of them got sloppy. She couldn't do anything to endanger a large group of humans due to that blasted Kryptonian's speed so the easiest way of escaping was not available to her. Even if she ignored the facts and took a chance, she had little doubt that the green brute would pounce on her the second her eyes left him. If only she could get one of them out of the way she could easily trounce whoever remained, leaving her free to promptly accomplish her mission…

It was then that a moment of inspiration that she realized there was a resource of hers that was still in the area and would do nicely.

Reaching up, she felt a button on a temporary implant the little toad had put behind her ear when she'd picked up her minions for the mission. It allowed her complete control over the beast that the little man had created but it also had a second option that she'd intended to use only if the entire Justice League got in her way. With a feral smile stretching across her face, she saw the key to victory as well as the means to gain ample revenge on these two lummox's for causing her such difficulty.

"WeLl, It'S bEeN fUn BuT I tHiNk iT's TiMe FoR mE tO tAg OuT!" she said before pressing the button and hearing the whine that told her the feature had activated.

Within seconds the results of her action could be heard as a loud roar succeeded in crossing the distance between the source and their location. Almost immediately afterwards the sound of explosion could be heard with a plume of smoke rising into the air quite visibly from where the three of them were.

"What did you do?" the Kryptonian asked in a tone that implied reprisal depending on the answer.

"I jUsT cHaNgEd ThE sEtTiNg On My LiTtlE aBoMiNaTiOn FrOm VeRbAl CoMmAnDs To CHAOS!" she replied bearing her sharp teeth at her foes. "It'S nOw OuT oF cOnTrOl AnD dEsTrOyInG eVeRyThInG aNd EvErYoNe In SiGhT! NoT eVeN I cAn StOp It NoW!"

"What!?" the Kryptonian exclaimed as he gazed in the direction of the chaos as though unable to believe she was telling the truth.

"YoU hAvE a ChOiCe HeRo: KeEp FiGhTiNg Me Or StOp My AbOmInAtIoN." She said delivering her 'choice' to the unofficial leader of the Justice League. "ChOoSe QuIcKlY."

Just like she predicted, though, the fool didn't even take a second to make his choice and, with a blur of super speed, her problems were reduced to one furious moron who had all the intellect of a rock. While this didn't meant that it would only take one move to finish the fight, she knew she now held the advantage as the only person on the battlefield capable of moving faster than the common eye could see. Invigorated by the little victory she'd achieved over the Kryptonian, another idea came to mind for dealing with the Hulk. While she'd prefer to pound the green giant until he was paste in the ground, she realized that the mission had to come first. The fool wasn't all that smart and it was unlikely that he'd be able to pick up her trail if she was too far gone for him to see with the naked eye.

With that in mind she charged in and began to deliver a series of blows designed to daze and confuse her prey. Once she saw him wobble enough to know that it worked, she grabbed him by the arm and began to whirl him around like a propeller until she succeeded in reaching her top speed, then she let him go. Like a giant cannonball the Hulk flew through the air and, while she had no clue where he'd eventually land, she did know that it'd be far away.

Without missing a single step she ran in the direction that scrap pile H.A.R.M had crashed and where the Kherabim computer awaited her. It took her little, if any, time to reach her destination but, when she arrived, she had to growl with annoyance at the scene playing out before her. Instead of the cyborg waiting patiently for her, he was fighting with two little girls that he should've been able to easily. One appeared to be made of liquid metal while the other appeared to be the female version of that Martian that was a member of the Justice League. She could've sworn that both of them had been beaten into the ground back at the embassy but obviously they were determined to annoy her further. Rushing forward at super speed, she backhanded the Martian, sending the green bitch through two buildings before latching onto the metallic woman with both hands so that she could tear the slut in two. Letting out an animalistic snarl, she ripped the metallic redhead in two flinging the halves as far as she could.

"AAAIIIEEEE!" screamed the mutated human as it suffered serious injury.

_Nothing is quite so satisfying as the suffering of weaklings!_ She thought as her mood improved a bit. _Now to get the target back to Helspont._

Looking down on its humanoid form, she was pleased to see that it was still inactive since it would be a real pain to have to chase it down and short circuit it again. Reaching down to pick it up, she almost didn't hear the sound of something moving swiftly through the air but she did and with instincts born of many battles, she instantly struck out with her right hand. Instead of passing through air, though, it hit something that was solid to the touch but invisible to the eyes… or rather the object had been invisible until her blow disrupted what had kept it concealed. Hitting the wall of a nearby building hard enough to create cracks was the Martian from earlier and, oddly enough, it impressed her that the whelp was able to push aside the pain the bitch was obviously feeling to fight.

It wouldn't keep her from doing something more permanent to the green girl but perhaps it might just make her upgrade the shapeshifter from slug to mouse.

"Y-you're not leaving w-with Void," the Martian bit out as it unsteadily got to its feet.

"AnD I sUpPoSe YoU pLaN oN sToPpInG mE?" she asked without the slightest bit of concern.

"I don't plan on stopping you. I WILL stop you!" the Martian declared before charging forward again with fists raised to attack.

With the utmost condescension she remained in a relaxed stance and raised only one arm to defend herself with since she doubted it'd take much more than that to make the fool eat pavement. Just as the idiot reached her she used her speed to get herself into position to grab the moron by the head so that she could thrust it towards the ground below her feet. However, before she could, the unexpected happened as the little girl's head twisted away from her grasp as though it was made from clay. Before she could adapt to this change, a punch about two thirds the strength of what she'd received from the Kryptonian slammed into her chest, sending her through a nearby wall. It was not strong enough to do any appreciable harm so she recovered quickly and quickly put the Martian back in the slug category.

A slug that was about to get thoroughly squashed!

"NiCeLy DoNe!" she growled as she strode out of the building she'd been knocked into. "YoU'vE jUsT eArNeD a PlAcE oN mY kIlL lIsT! YOU WON'T SURVIVE THE HONOR!"

_**Ten Blocks From the Justice League Embassy, Zealot's POV**_

_The monster is out of control and the members of the League appear to at best be able to act as distractions for it._ She thought as she observed the costumed heroes come close to a fatal mistake many a time. _Only the beast's lack of intelligence allows them to keep it marginally contained._

Retreating back into the alleyway where brother Grifter was finishing the process of putting his uniform back on, she evaluated where they stood now in order to determine where they should go. As far as she knew, the Daemonite agent had successfully made off with Void, making it likely that unless someone interfered, the artificial intelligence would soon be in Helspont's hands. She'd seen Megan and Cessily fly off in the direction her foe had gone along with a transformed Alexander, so there was at least a chance that Glorificus could be delayed for a time. Nevertheless, the consequences would be dire indeed if they failed for she knew of the secret that lay at the core of the artificial being as she had been a person of significant rank aboard the Kherabim ship, Pantheon. Therefore the course she should take was obvious but as she looked at Cole she could tell that he wanted to help the Leaguers before the monster killed them. While the former member of Team 7 might often make jokes about the showy costumed heroes, it did not mean that he didn't appreciate the good that they did for Earth.

It did not mean that he failed to recognize the fact that he owed them his life each time they saved the planet from oblivion.

By both Grifter's code of honor and her own, they were obligated to render aid if the heroes were ever in a strategically dangerous situation.

"I know what you're thinking, Zealot, but we've got to help put down that monster." Cole said as he pulled his signature mask over his face. "I know all you want to do since we recovered our gear is go after Void but you and I both know that against that Daemonite bitch we'd get our hearts ripped out before we could blink. At least with Big Ugly over there we might be able to help."

"What happens to the members of the Justice League and the monster pales in comparison to what will happen if Helspont successfully acquires Void." she pointed out without any indicator of which way she was leaning. "I am sure their comrades will arrive shortly to render aid."

"Well, they're sure taking their sweet time!" Cole said pointing back in the direction of the Embassy. "It's been over an hour since this brawl started and no new heroes have swooped in. If the ones here don't get backup soon, it's only a matter of time before one of them gets turned into paste. I'm not about to let that happen. Not when we're within shooting range of that thing."

"If we do not stop Helspont from getting Void, every living thing on this planet could 'get turned into paste'," she said, throwing his own words back at him. "It's a question of numbers, Cole. Save a handful now and risk everyone else or prioritize the world and forget about the few who can be replaced soon enough."

"Zannah… I've met more than a few who used that same line of thinking to leave me and my team twisting in the wind. We weren't people to them, we were assets, expendable assets that could be replaced," Cole said with an edge added to his tone. "When I left the military, I made a promise to myself: I would die before I did the same. I'm going to go help them take down that monster. You do whatever you want. You always do."

With that he pulled out his guns and ran for the battle between the League and the monster, laying down rapid fire the moment he got a clear shot.

While she could understand his reasoning, she had the benefit of centuries of experience within her mind and knew that warriors who acted on their emotions often lost sight of the big picture to the doom of all they sought to protect. In war one had to remain calm and objective, relying only on the facts to determine the most efficient means of achieving victory. While there were some limitations as dictated by the Code of the Coda, she never hesitated to utilize what options remained in order to win her battles. At the moment her experiences were yelling at her to leave Grifter behind and focus on recovering Void but, for some reason, she could bring herself to turn away from the fight her partner had become embroiled in. It went against every ounce of tactical knowledge she possessed to choose any other course of action than what her experience had told her to do but still conflict existed within her.

With a sigh of annoyance she drew her sword from its sheath and moved to aid her partner.

Cole had clearly passed on some of his foolishness to her and she would make sure he paid for it later.

Seeing the monster about to hammer his fist down onto a dazed Black Canary, she leapt into the air and slashed the beast in a place that would evoke the most pain. As she'd expected, her Kheran-forged blade barely managed to pierce the scales of the monster but she'd taken that into account when she'd chosen her target. Getting out of the way as the giant lizard's strike range as it reared back in pain, reflexively reaching for the wound she'd just inflicted, allowing the woman with the sonic scream to recover her senses and get clear.

"Decided to join the party after all, Zealot?" Grifter asked, sounding a little smug that he'd rubbed off on her.

"Strategically I would stand a better chance defeating Glorificus with an ally," she replied, watching as the abomination turned to glare at her, "therefore the sooner this distraction is defeated, the sooner we can pursue the Daemonite and retrieve Void."

Cole merely chuckled at her perfectly rational line of thought but then they had to focus all their attention on the monster as it charged the largest clump of heroes looking to retaliate for the pain that had been inflicted.

"Look, lady, I don't know what's going on but for saving Canary from getting turned into mush you've got one more on your side when you go after that lizard woman." Green Arrow said before firing a volley of explosive arrows at the scaled beast.

They didn't do a thing to slow the target down one bit, making her wonder if the archer would really be of any assistance against one of Helspont's enforcers.

"No. The League can handle that demonness on its own," Vixen said as she charged like an angry elephant. "Once this overgrown gecko is beat, both of you're going back to your cells and we'll deal with that bitch queen."

"You're welcome to try, lady." Cole said, managing some precision shots to the abomination's eyes. "But you're going to need a helluva lot more than you got to pull it off than what you have right now."

Watching the beast rear back in pain once more, she had to agree that if the fight continued like they were it was unlikely that any member of the League currently present would be in any condition to detain them. Then again they might not be in any better condition so escape might not be possible for them either but so long as both she and Grifter remembered their training she was confident that their injuries would be minimal.

As the fighting continued her situational awareness let her know that the situation had changed with the arrival of her and Grifter. While the two of them might not be as powerful as some of the others present, the members of the Justice League were trained to use just enough force to subdue their opponents without venturing into excessive or potentially lethal force range. She and Cole, on the other hand, had no reservations about using lethal force if the situation warranted it and, given the power gap between them and the monster, 'kid gloves', as Cole called them, had to come off. Non-lethal force would not work against this creature and pretending otherwise would only mean severe injury or perhaps even death for all of them. Little by little her sword and Coles guns were inflicting harm upon the beast, however she could already see signs of a regenerative healing factor taking effect. At the rate things were going, it could take them hours before they succeeded in doing sufficient injury to the abomination to render it incapable of fighting further.

That was unacceptable. They needed to start inflicting significant harm upon the monster if they were going to achieve victory swiftly enough to make save Void.

While she let her mind wander a little, the crime against the natural order slammed both fists into the ground, shattering and upturning the pavement in all directions around the point of impact. As a result those not prepared for it found themselves knocked to the ground while those that had seen it coming were able to leap into the air to avoid the worst of it. It didn't mean that their landing was very steady with the loose pavement about but at least it left them in a better position. Sadly she was one of those knocked off her feet and so it was her that had to look up to see the giant being looming over her with a look of madness in its eyes.

However a blurred form slammed into it and succeeded in sending it flying before skidding down the street creating a trench as it went. Looking at the blur that had since solidified into a person, she could only believe that the Kheran gods of old had heard her wish.

Standing before her, looking only somewhat bruised, was the Justice League member known as Wonder Woman.

_**Somewhere Else, Place Unknown**_

"HOW DO THINGS PROCEED?" the central figure asked from the command chair overlooking the bridge.

"It would appear, my lord, that Glorificus is having significant difficulty retrieving the Kherabim computer core." A man wearing a fedora replied as he looked to the various video feeds. "Even with the resources she tapped into, it is unlikely that she will be able to return with her target anytime soon."

Silence reigned in the room as the various underlings went about their assigned tasks while at the same time diverting part of their attention to the important conversation going on in their midst. Their master's temper was well known and the bungling of the enforcer could very well be the final straw and cause their lord to lash out in a fury. None wanted that because, when their leader was like that, he didn't discriminate between his people and the ship itself when it came to dispensing his anger. One or two considered finding excuses to leave the room but realized that it would be seen as a sign of weakness, resulting in them being either killed or 're-educated'.

Neither possibility failed to send a shiver of fear down their backs.

"SIGNAL HIGHTOWER AND DEFILE," commanded the figure with power from the large chair in the center of the room. "MY PATIENCE IS AT AN END. GLORIFICUS HAS FAILED. IT IS TIME FOR ME TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE SITUATION PERSONALLY."

"By your command, Lord Helspont," the man in the fedora said with a formal bow before bringing the communications system online. "And what of the prisoners?"

"THEY SHALL BE USED AS EXAMPLES. ONCE I HAVE THE KHERABIM COMPUTER, IT WILL BE ALL TOO EASY TO LOCATE THE ORB OF POWER. THEN THE DAEMONITE CAMPAIGN TO CONQUER THE KNOWN GALAXY CAN BEGIN!"

The time for observation was over.

The time to act had arrived.

_**Megan Morse's POV**_

_I c-can't give up!_ She thought as she fought to keep her body from trembling with strain. _Can't let this woman get away w-with Void!_

Sadly while her will remained strong, her body was another matter entirely as it was proving incapable of matching her foe blow for blow. Some might look at her and assume that she's just as capable as the famous hero Martian Manhunter but that would not be the case. While none of the abilities inherent in all Martians were beyond her reach, her efforts since arriving on this world had been centered on blending in. Before Xander had arrived she'd only used the abilities that would help her conceal her true nature from the people around her and, as far as combat was concerned, fighting the odd overzealous customer didn't count.

Fighting someone who obviously had vast experience and skill in the area in fighting was proving to be quite the difficult challenge.

In terms of physical speed and strength they appeared to be near equal, with the lizard woman only edging her out by about ten percent or so. However it was only the inventive ways that she coming up with for using her powers was keeping her in the game but tricks like that would only last for so long. Eventually the evil woman would wise up and adapt to her abilities but, strangely enough, she was willing to take those odds. After all, her mission here was to delay the evil woman long enough for Xander to return because, when he did, the two of them would have no trouble at all pounding the slut into the ground.

So if time was what she needed to buy then she'd make sure to get all she could acquire with her meager abilities.

Shoving aside her pain she charged forward, once more elongating her body as she went before attempting to bind the woman's arms with her body, thus leaving the bitch vulnerable to attack. However, as fast as she was, the lizard woman proved to be one step ahead of her and leapt clear of her stretched body, forcing her to change her plans. Pulling her body back to its normal human proportions, she flew into the sky, accelerating to the height of her levels of speed, intending to use the fact that the witch couldn't fly to her advantage. Acting like a cannonball with a mind of its own, she struck the scaled woman in the jaw as she flew past and then came back around for another attack and then another. Over and over again she took advantage of the fact that a woman could not possibly dodge since there was no way to move out of the way or few ways to change her orientation. For a time she thought she had finally found a method that would succeed in keeping her foe off balance until Xander arrived but that moment of hope soon shattered.

As she threw her next punch, a great surprise occurred when the demonness arced her body just enough to evade it and then, before she could pull back her arm, it grabbed.

"My TuRn!" her foe declared before burying a fist deep into her stomach.

Then, before she could recover from the shock of the first blow, another more powerful one was delivered to the back of her head, sending her plummeting to the ground below. So dazed was she by the blows that she was unable to save herself and so impacted on the street hard, almost sending her into the sewer tunnels below. She didn't know how long it took for her to regain her senses but, when she flew out of the hole in the ground her body had made, she barely had time to prevent herself from losing them again. A vicious punch that had been aimed at her head almost connected but she managed to spin out of the way in time to evade it allowing her to float more than fly a dozen feet away.

_Dammit! I really thought that'd work!_ She thought as she glared at her enemy in frustration, _Now what can I do?!_

She didn't have the experience needed to become intangible and with the injuries she'd received thus far, her ability to turn invisible would be unstable at best. That left her with only her telepathy but she hesitated to make contact with such a foul, evil mind. In the past she'd only used her telepathic abilities to adjust the minds of some particularly rowdy customers or punish those men who thought they could abuse others without consequences. She'd never tried using the power in combat or to make contact with the mind of such an evil being.

Did she dare to take action?

A roar of fury quickly growing louder and closer saved her from making the choice as, with an impact that caused anyone close by to compare it to a brief earthquake, the Hulk made his return to the battlefield. Fury was still etched on his face and he pushed off the ground, tackling the lizard woman with the power of a runaway freight train. Building after building collapsed as their central supports were shattered and, by the time the fourth building fell, the momentum from Xander's attack expired.

Flying after the battling duo, she arrived to see them literally matching each other fist for fist, sending out shockwaves each time they slammed into each other. Whether they were planning on doing this on purpose or not, one was intercepting the other's punch with their own and so the force from each was diverted off to the side. This went on for a while before the lizard woman ducked under one of the Hulk's punches and used the claws on both of her hands to cut open his stomach. Green blood splattered across the rubble that had once been a building as Xander bellowed in fury-filled pain pressing a hand to the open wound. However, as the monster woman soon found out, making the green giant angry only made him stronger when, in a move of surprising speed, he grabbed her head with his free hand and slamming it into the ground with great power. Xander pulled the lizard woman's head out of the ground moments later but this proved to only be so he could slam it again into the ground, deepening the indentation the initial move had made.

When he finally paused to inspect his work, she wondered if they'd finally succeeded in defeating the witch.

When a clawed hand shot out of the impression and slashed open the Hulk's throat, though, she was amazed that the inhuman woman she'd been fighting still had the strength for it. Her state of shock didn't end there when the slash was followed up by a thrust kick that sent Xander into the air for a short time until he landed with a boom a dozen feet away.

_Impossible!_ she thought watching her foe rise unsteadily to her feet. _After getting pummeled that way, she shouldn't be conscious, much less still be able to fight!_

"ThIs IsN't…OvEr…NoT yEt.." snarled the humanoid lizard as she tried to steady herself.

"FOR YOU IT IS, GLORIFICUS." came a malevolent voice from an alleyway thirty yards behind the lizard woman.

A sudden and powerful blast of energy shot out of the alleyway and tore through the demoness' chest as though she were a normal human. So large was the hole made that it wasn't unfeasible to say that a person could fit their head through it without difficulty, leaving her to wonder what was keeping the witch's body from separating into two halves. She wasn't left to wonder long as the body dropped to the ground as though all life had left it leaving her to wonder who had slain the foe who'd been such a problem for the rest of them. The person responsible soon emerged from the alleyway but the perpetrator was definitely not an Earth native but she was unable to identify the species. Clad in a purple and green bodysuit with golden tubes wrapping around the torso was a fearsome-looking villain with a head of electric blue flames given normal features only by a tattered skull-like mask. With a purple cape falling down the alien's back, it looked like it'd stepped straight out of a sci-fi movie and the role of the main villain.

"…H-helspont…" the lizard woman managed to say as blood trickled from her mouth.

"THERE IS ONLY ONE FATE FOR FAILURES." Helspont said as he picked up the lizard woman by the neck. "DEATH!" With that final word the flaming villain ripped Glorificus completely in half, dropping both halves like they were so much trash moments later.

_We… we have to get out of here!_ She thought with fear as her eyes remained locked on Helspont, _H-He'll kill us all!_

Her mind tried to come up with something encouraging, like the fact that they'd softened up the demoness for Helspont, but she couldn't let go of the memory of Glorificus being torn apart. She had to somehow convince the Hulk to withdraw because, while he might be powerful, he had all the intellect of someone severely mentally challenged. There was no way that he'd be able to survive an encounter with someone who'd slain a foe he'd had such trouble with.

If Xander tried to fight Helspont, he could very well die.

"AS FOR YOU, HUMAN, YOU SHALL PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR INTERFERING WITH MY PLANS." Helspont declared as his gaze became fixed on the jade giant.

"Flame man…steal Hulk's prey…flame man BECOME Hulk's prey." Xander growled out as though his mind could barely gain coherence enough to speak. "HULK CRUSH!"

With that green mountain of muscle charged towards his new target and retreat ceased to be an option.

Survival, in her opinion, was the best he could hope for.

_**The Streets Near the Outskirts of Washington, Tony Stark's POV**_

"Emergency repairs complete. Reinitializing systems and administering stimulant."

With a gasp of sudden consciousness he woke and immediately tried to make sense of his surroundings, focusing first on what the main visual display only to find a street tilted on its side, along with many buildings. It took a moment for him to realize this was because he was lying on his stomach so he rolled onto his back and sat up. The next thing he noticed were the numerous readouts that flashed across his armor's HUD and this jogged his memory, allowing him to recall how he'd been knocked unconscious in the first place. He'd been flying to the outskirts of the city in order to investigate a suspicious anomaly when, out of the blue, he'd been attacked by a masked villain wielding an energy pike of some sort. He'd put up a decent enough fight but a direct hit to his suit's primary power source had caused some serious damage, rendering him unconscious just after he'd ordered Jarvis to initiate emergency repair protocols. Obviously they'd worked because, based on the readings he was seeing on the HUD, he was now a little better off than he'd been after the fight at the embassy. There was still some nasty battle damage but that couldn't be helped by anything other than returning to his lab and working on it there.

That wasn't an option.

His attacker's words and the timing of his attack confirmed for him that something was hovering in wait outside of the city and whoever was in charge inside didn't want to be exposed before he/she/it were ready. While his first instinct was to resume his investigation, he realized that that wasn't possible. If the masked man he'd encountered was some sort of watch dog then he'd almost certainly reported the presence of a man flying around in a metal suit to his superiors. The element of surprise was lost and, given the state of his armor, he doubted that she'd fare well in a head on confrontation with a force capable of hiding a large ship. That meant that he had to get back to the Embassy and inform the people there of what he'd found out because he seriously doubted that the hidden spectator's intentions were benevolent.

Activating his repulsor boots, he rose into the air and once he cleared the rooftops he flew towards the embassy at top speed.

He was about halfway there when a roar echoed throughout the air followed by the destruction of several buildings, making him automatically look in that direction and use his armor's sensors to find out what was going on. What he saw made him believe that the situation was a great deal direr than he'd originally thought because, right before his eyes, the Hulk was getting his big green ass handed to him by some sort of flame-headed super villain. The bad guy appeared to wield formidable energy blasts and strength that made the lizard woman seem no stronger than the heroine Vixen. Watching as the Hulk repeatedly tried to attack the evil matchstick, it soon became clear that the giant was outmatched in every way save strength. The craters made from the jade giant's blows showed that he was getting stronger with every passing minute but all of Xander's attacks were obvious to anyone with a set of eyes. Anyone who'd even had basic training in hand-to-hand combat would be able to evade the attacks and find the openings in Jade Jaws' defenses… though that could be because there was practically no defense to speak of in the first place.

While it seemed a few times that the mountain of a man tried to bring an arm up to block an attack, it wasn't something that he could positively confirm. The only thing he could confirm was that the only thing that was keeping Xander in the fight was his durability and, unless he was mistaken, some sort of regenerative ability. However both qualities had their limits and it would only be a matter of time before the Hulk reached his limits and was drop kicked past them, quite possibly to the point of death.

That left him with quite the choice to make: did he divert to render aid to the person Willow wanted to rescue or did he continue to the embassy in order to warn them of the hidden threat.

In the end he decided to do both and immediately began to broadcast a signal on every frequency used by the police, military and what he believed to be the communications channel for the Justice League.

"This is Iron Man to anyone capable of receiving this signal. I have located what appears to be a cloaked ship hovering just outside the city," he said, hoping that enough of the right people heard his transmission. "I have encountered one of the agents connected to it and do not believe that their intentions are benign. I am sending both the coordinates for the ship as well as all pertinent sensor data so you'll have a better idea of what you're dealing with. Please take every step possible to counter a city-wide threat because any ship capable of generating a cloaking field that strong must have impressive weapons."

With that he ceased broadcasting and set course for the battlefield on which the Hulk stood, locking all targeting systems on the being that seemed determined to kill Xander. Once he was within optimum firing range he began firing repulsor blasts down on the fiend, mixing in the odd tank buster forearm rocket for variety. Like an amplified version of conventional bombing runs, his attacks tore apart the ground around his target and hopefully did the same to old flame face. He was trying to use his sensors to get an idea of what sort of affect his efforts were having but some sort of interference was getting in the way.

It was due to this that he only had a moment's warning to act on when an energy blast pierced the cloud of dust and debris that obscured the enemy. With reflexes born of evading the throws of irate parents and ex-girlfriends he managed to roll to the side and while he avoided the bulk of it, the energy still scraped against his armor, ripping bits of it away to expose the circuitry beneath. Preparing himself for follow up attacks, he watched as his sensors could once more clearly his foe but didn't like the fact that there appeared to be no appreciable battle damage from his earlier attacks. There was some scuff marks and some minor chipping in places, as well as a little damage to the purple cape, but aside from that NOTHING. Considering he'd designed his armor's weapons to be powerful enough to let him take on even the powerhouses of the Justice League, that did not bode well at all.

"ANOTHER FLEA DARES TO DEFY ME?" the powerhouse with the head of flame barked. "WHEN WILL THEY LEARN THAT FLEAS ARE AS NOTHING BEFORE MY POWER."

"Probably about the same time disco makes a comeback big guy." he replied while trying to formulate a new plan of attack. "How about you go away and wait for that to happen? I'm sure people'll respect you better then."

"DO NOT PRESUME TO SPEAK SO TO ME, HUMAN." The enemy said with no sign that he was even a little concerned. "JUST…**DIE!**"

The fiend let loose two energy blasts from each arm, forcing him to devote all of his focus to evading them using whatever aerial maneuvers he could conceive of. It wasn't easy as he'd only managed a couple of hours in the simulator but fortunately for him the high and mighty big bad wasn't taking him seriously. He could tell from what glimpses he could get that the villain the asshole was casually adjusting his aim and releasing blasts on a whim every second or two. The man, if you could call the one before him that, obviously didn't consider anyone that wasn't him a threat and wanted to make sure that everyone else knew it.

That cocky attitude was going to cost him in three…two…one…

"RRAAAGGHH!" the Hulk roared as he took advantage of his prey's lack of attention to bring both fists down upon the villain's head.

With power enough to seriously disturb the ground in every direction for fifty yards, the blow successfully landed, sending the fiend into the ground quite deep. However this blow only seemed to enrage the caped creep further as the Hulk was flung out of the impression moments before a tremendous force displaced everything from where the fiery felon was located. Coated in an aura of energy at the center of a crater that was a perfect circle, the potent powerhouse most definitely gave off the impression of someone distinctly pissed off. He seriously hoped that this guy wasn't like the Hulk because if he was then what he was looking at was definitely a five hundred percent increase in power.

"HIGHTOWER! DEFILE! DOCKWELL! DISPOSE OF THIS TRASH ALONG WITH THE ENTIRE CITY!" roared the villain with the flaming skull for a head.

In response to this command the sensors on his armor immediately began to pick up three VERY large power signatures and so with all the seriousness such things required he turned his attention towards then.

He almost immediately wished he hadn't.

In three separate locations the air shimmered like heat rising off the pavement and this effect came to reveal three ships with some very nasty weapons adorning them. One was obviously a mothership due to its sheer size while the others were about half as big with a sleeker appearance making him think they were likely more maneuverable. That was about all the casual observing he could do before the weapons he'd spotted on them earlier began to direct deadly blasts of energy both at him as well as the rest of Washington.

Seeing all of this he could only hope that Justice League reinforcements were incoming because even with the heroes he knew were in the city presenting a united front he had his doubts as to whether or not that would be enough.

_**Justice League's Washington Embassy, Dr. Fate's POV**_

_I know not what but there is something about this young woman that does not feel… right._ Dr. Fate thought as he continued to utilize his magic to determine why the teenager would not waken.

Ever since Batman had bade him take Ms. Rosenberg to the infirmary, he had been doing what he could to get her onto her feet but no spell of healing or waking worked. He was confident enough in his own skills to say that it wasn't due to him but that would imply some unknown outside factor or the young woman herself was resistant to his magic. It was rare but there did exist people that magic did not affect even if you used an obscene level of power on them but he didn't think that was the case. Not one of the magic nulls he had ever encountered during his career as Dr Fate had possessed the arcane aptitude that Willow Rosenberg did. Just by looking at her with a passive scan spell he could tell a great many about her not the least of which was her potential as a sorceress. With proper instruction in the mystic arts, she could prove a possible successor to the Helmet of Fate should he or his wife prove to be unavailable.

He could also tell that she had lived upon a Hellmouth for most of her life yet was surprisingly not as tainted as most with the aptitude would be spending the same amount of time at such a location. He could only presume that she had not begun tapping into her magic until the last two years or so. Yet at the same time he could tell in those brief years she'd managed to achieve a measure of progress in mastering her magic, implying that she had either begun to receive instruction or had started to teach herself. Personally he hoped it was the former because there was great risk in doing the latter. Those that were taught by an experienced practitioner in the mystic arts were guided around many deadly traps and prevented from making some potentially fatal mistakes. Those were the students that were able to live long and healthy lives. For those that taught themselves, however, they were entering uncharted territory from the moment they picked up their first magic book. The wise knew that books were poor substitutes for a living instructor because a great many of the books on magic were written with the understanding that the reader already knew the basics and respected the forces of magic.

Such was rarely the case when it came to self-taught mages.

Many saw magic as simply being a way of getting what they wanted quicker and easier than doing it the normal way while at the same time believing that as long as they followed the instructions properly, everything would be fine. Those people did not realize that magic always came with a cost and the greater the feat of magic performed, the more severe the cost would be. Some spells actually required calling upon gods, goddesses, demons or otherworldly beings for assistance. Those entities did not see things as humans did, did not think as humans did, and so what a human would consider adequate payment for that assistance was rarely the same for those otherworldly entities.

Some payments were so severe that they could not be imagined by the human mind and some were so terrible that when the self-taught mage fully realized what they were, insanity was a very real possibility.

_If I can successfully remedy this situation, I will have to have a chat with young Ms. Rosenberg about her magic._ He thought as he moved on to the next spell that might yield results. _While I myself would not be able to oversee her instruction, I should be able to find a suitable substitute with some free time on their hands._

His efforts were put on hold when a nearby screen flicked on to reveal the face of Mr. Terrific and the hero looked decidedly concerned.

"Dr. Fate, I am declaring an alpha red alert for the city of Washington," Mr. Terrific said before an image of the city appeared in the corner. "Three Daemonite ships have appeared and are attacking the city. I am calling in all League members in the area to deal with the situation but as you're there already. We need you to get out there immediately."

Taking a moment to look at Ms. Rosenberg, he decided that there was little more that he could do for her that he had not already done. "I shall leave at once," he said as he made his choice. "What about the others? As I recall, despite our injured, Superman, Batman, Hawkgirl, Vixen, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Steel, J'onn and Captain Atom are in the city as well."

"Vixen, Green Arrow and Black Canary are working with Zealot and Grifter to deal with the overgrown muscle lizard ten blocks from the Embassy," Mr. Terrific said before taking on a concerned tone. "We've lost contact with Superman, Batman, Steel, the Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom. The last three were trailing the craft that fled the Embassy when they suddenly vanished off my screens and the other two did the same when they diverted from the Hulk to deal with the monster Green Arrow is fighting."

"Disappeared?!" he gasped in surprise that such strong individuals could vanish without warning. "Do you have any idea where they have disappeared to?"

"If I did, I'd be sending a strike team to the most likely spots to rescue them." Mr. Terrific replied as he typed on a console that was out of sight. "I'm repositioning three League satellites to Washington to scan everything within fifty miles of the Embassy as well as the Daemonite ships. With a little luck I'll get some information that can help us turn things around."

"While you do that, I will do all I can to keep matters from getting any worse." he said as he summoned a gateway that would take him to Green Arrow's position.

While some might think that confronting the alien ships was more important, he knew that they would need everyone in order to overcome this threat. Better to dispense with the monster that was holding up the members of the League currently in the city then to fight along without back up of any kind.

Walking through the portal, he could see that his reinforcements might not be as many as he'd hoped.

Green Arrow appeared to be unconscious and Black Canary was gripping her right arm, which hung limp from her shoulder, implying that it was either dislocated or broken. Vixen and the former prisoners were in slightly better shape with no serious injuries but fatigue weighed heavily on their shoulders, implying that they wouldn't be able to fight for very much longer. However at the center of the fight was Wonder Woman, who was trading punches with the monster Mr. Terrific had mentioned to an apparent stalemate. The reason why he called it apparent was the fact that his mystic senses could easily tell that Diana was still feeling the blow she had received earlier. There was a tenseness of focus throughout her body and a flicker of movement about her eyes that backed up what his magic was telling him. However, in true warrior fashion, she was fighting despite her injuries and acquitting herself quite nicely but he knew that sooner or later she would make a mistake. With that in mind he cast a spell of binding on the create as soon as an opening presented itself but was surprised when his choice of spells was only just holding the monster. Immediately he added supplementary spells to cloud the creatures mind and rob it of the life energy it needed to continue to fight, both of which took effect within seconds. He waited a minute further to see if some unforeseen element would present itself to free the monster but when nothing did he concluded that the battle was truly over.

"Thank you, Fate." Wonder Woman said as she took a somewhat unsteady step away from her former opponent. "Another few minutes and I would have been forced to make some rather serious decisions."

"Think nothing of it," he said before pointing at the alien ships bombarding the city. "I fear you will have ample opportunity to return the favor before this night is over."

Looking at the powerful blasts that the three spacecraft were sending down from the sky, no one present could dispute that. While not as numerous as past alien attackers, they were still powerful and with so few present capable of opposing them the outcome was far from certain.

"I won't keep track of saves if the rest of you don't." Vixen said, steeling herself for the battle to come.

"Deal," declared everyone present before they moved to confront the engines of destruction threatening the city.

_**Megan Morse's POV**_

_Why does he keep fighting?!_ She thought as she watched the Hulk continue to attack Helspont, only to be knocked aside like a child. _Even for someone as stupid as him, he has to know that it's pointless._

Yet, in defiance of all reason, the jade giant continued to lunge at the demonic alien, sometimes to be knocked around by Helspont while other times an energy strike from one of the spaceships above managed to connect. She knew that he was so overcome with fury that he wasn't thinking straight and that that was what kept him from realizing that just throwing himself at his foe wasn't going to work. She wanted to convince him to stop, to flee if he couldn't calm down enough to think properly, but between her fear of Helspont and her need to evade the incoming fire from above, she didn't have the opportunity to do so. Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, she flew back in the direction she knew that Cessily had been torn apart. If she couldn't help with the fight between the Hulk and Helspont, then the least she could do was help her friend pull herself together and then get them both clear of the danger zone.

Landing at the site of terrible event in question, she sought out the upper half of Cessily's body since it would naturally be drawn towards the lower half, giving her a means of finding that half. Using her telepathy to home in on her friend's mind, it didn't take long for her to find the upper half of the metal girl's body. As she'd anticipated the trauma of being torn in half had reduced Cessily to a liquid pool of metal with only a barely discernible face at one end.

"Hang in there Cessily!" she said accelerating to her friend's side. "I'll get you back together in no time!"

Using her telekinesis, she lifted her friend gently off of the ground but no sign was there that Cessily even realized that she was there. That did not bode well but nevertheless, through her telekinetic hold, she was able to detect a faint pull in her friend's upper body, giving her a good idea of which direction to go in for the other half. It took a few minutes, though, as she had to move around some rubble in order to find what she was looking for, but eventually she found a mass of liquid metal that could only belong to her friend. Carefully setting both halves next to each other, she waited to see if her optimistic solution to her situation proved to be accurate. At first nothing happened but then a smile blossomed on her face as the two halves began to flow together with obvious purpose and, after a minute or two, they became as one. From there it took less than a minute for Cessily's mass to reform into its familiar feminine form and, once that was done, movements associated with life began.

True, Cessily didn't strictly need to make it appear as though she was breathing or that muscles were moving beneath the surface of her 'skin', but the redhead chose to do so if only to fit in with others.

Time passed and for a moment she feared that this would be as far as the restoration would go but then a groan of soreness escaped Cessily's lips and, with a brief flutter of metallic eyelids, her friend began to push herself into a sitting position.

"Uhhh…what happened…to me?" Cessily rasped, managing to sit up and stay that way.

"You got torn in two by that psycho lizard woman," she replied truthfully as she remained close just in case her friend's strength abandoned her. "Karma had its way with her, though. She's not a problem for anyone anymore."

"Good. Getting torn in two sucks." Cessily said with a bit of relief before deciding to try and stand up.

It was shaky at first but as time passed, strength returned and her friend managed to stand steadily on her own two feet without any sign of weakness.

Too bad it was right about then that a volley of energy blasts struck the ground just far enough away for them to avoid being seriously injured.

"What the HELL?!" Cessily exclaimed as she looked about trying to locate the source of the attack.

"Um… did I forget to mention that three alien ships are attacking the city as well as everyone in it?" she asked, feeling a bit embarrassed that she'd forgotten to relay that important fact.

"Yeah. You DID!" Cessily replied glaring at her for that important omission.

"Well they are and I wouldn't recommend trying to fly out of this place," she said, bringing her friend closer to a sturdy wall. "Those ships seem to like flying targets."

"What about your boyfriend and Void?" Cessily asked as they listened for signs that trouble was coming their way. "They alright?"

"Void should be around here somewhere but Xander… Xander's fighting some super villain called Helspont." she said, taking on an ominous tone as she recalled. "He's… he's not doing so well. In fact he's… losing."

"WHAT!? The guy who can knock heads with Superman is LOSING!?" Cessily exclaimed in genuine surprise at the news.

She shuddered slightly at the memory of the beating Helspont was delivering to Xander, despite the latter being in his empowered form. It seemed impossible that someone capable of matching Superman blow for blow could be so completely outclassed but she had seen it with her own eyes. She knew not how long it would be before the fight between Helspont and the Hulk came to an end because, with the Hulk's durability and regenerative abilities, it could be quite some time indeed. However at the moment she had little doubt as to how it would end. Unless a dramatic change occurred in how the jade giant fought, he would never be able to overcome the skill and power of Helspont.

"Yes, and there's nothing we can do to help him," she said before she began looking about the area. "The best we can do is find Void and get her out of here."

"Wait! You're just going to abandon him?!" Cessily asked in surprise at her suggested course of action.

"YOU THINK I WANT TO!?" she exclaimed in frustration as she turned to her friend. "If I thought there was anything we could do to help him, I'd have dragged you off already! You don't understand just how big the power gap is! If we went there… we'd only get in the way."

It was the undeniable truth that in terms of skill she and Cessily weren't much better than the Hulk and, as far as power went, she felt she'd barely be able to prove equal to Wonder Woman.

They wouldn't be able to do anything for Xander. They could do something for Void, though.

"Alright. Let's see if we can find Miss CPU and get her out of the battlefield." Cessily said, accepting the feelings of her friend.

With that the two of them began to explore the area where they'd last seen the alien artificial intelligence, moving aside debris as needed. Ten minutes later they found the person they sought and, thankfully, there didn't appear to be any noticeable damage to Void as a result of all the fighting. Utilizing the normal ways that she knew to wake up an unconscious human, mostly because she didn't know how to wake up an offline humanoid A.I, concern manifested when she received no response. Nevertheless she refused to believe the worst since she'd already been forced to accept a bit minutes ago with Xander.

"C'mon." Cessily said as she picked Void up off the ground, "We need to get the hell out of here before something we can't handle comes along."

Before they could take two steps, a massive object burst from the side of the building in front of them before finally coming to a stop as its momentum proved insufficient to allow it to pass through yet another wall. As dirt, dust and debris danced about in the air, she had a hard time seeing what or perhaps who had just come through the wall but eventually the air cleared all with eyes to see clearly.

She truly wished that she could've remained ignorant of the object's identity for a great deal longer.

Lying scarily still on the ground was the Hulk but, unlike how she had seen him before, both of his arms had somehow been burned off and he was unconscious. Looking extra carefully, she could miraculously see signs of labored breathing but it looked as though it was getting harder and harder for the disarmed giant to accomplish this feat. All this information was being processed peripherally as the majority of her mind just couldn't believe that someone could've done this to the Hulk or that the giant was still alive if only just barely. She was not given much longer to consider this a primal instinct told her to relocate herself and Cessily from their current positions IMMEDIATELY. Thanks to the state of her mind, she reacted with impressive promptness and that was the only thing that saved the two of them from an energy blast that left a bowling ball sized hole in the wall Hulk was resting against.

"IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES, YOU WILL PUT DOWN THE KHERABIM COMPUTER, HUMANS." Came a malevolent voice she'd hoped never to hear again, "I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN."

_Someone… ANYONE… help us!_ She thought unknowingly transmitting it telepathically to everyone within range.

_**Xander's POV**_

_Someone…ANYONE…help us!_

It was a single familiar voice but sometimes that's all someone needs to pull themselves out of the chaos of their own mind. Megan's voice was certainly enough for him and with resolve born of seeing his only hope he began to claw his way through the near overwhelming sensory input that he'd been forced to experience. It was hard to think amidst the chaos, hard to form a coherent thought, making him feel that he'd only gain clarity once the source of the storm of information was turned off. Thus it had been a welcome change to hear Megan's voice and, given that it'd managed to pierce through the chaos, he saw it was a chance at clarity that he could lunge at and therefore he did. He knew not how long it took him to clear the chaos but his instincts, the ones that told him salvation lay in the direction of the voice, provided true as he emerged in what could be considered the eye of the storm.

Taking a moment to soak in the peace he had been deprived of moments ago, he then looked about to see if Megan was standing someplace close by waiting for him. Instead the only thing he saw was a nightmare version of the old Sunnydale High School library, pre-BOOM. The parts that existed closest to the center of the library were exactly as he remembered them but the further away from that center he looked, the greater the signs of degradation until all that could be seen was the chaos. Sometimes the chaos looked like a funnel of randomly colored energy and sometimes, for a split second, he thought he could make out images of the real world flitting by before it all became a multi-colored funnel again.

Seeing the familiar sight put him more at ease but a part of him still did want to know where he was, how he got here and how he could get back to the real world. It was about then that he spotted one of those omnibus comic books on the main library table and decided to follow the instinct that was telling him to take a look at it. Walking over, he picked it up and looked at the cover only to find the word 'Hulk' written at the top as well as a well-drawn picture of a set of angry green eyes right below the title. Almost immediately his mind made the connection between the cover and the monster he was cursed to turn into every time he lost his temper. His first instinct was to throw away the comic book and try to find his way back to reality but a stray thought telling him to look inside for answers prompted him to open the book.

What he saw inside was the expected comic book panels containing detailed drawings, text boxes and speech bubbles but the thing that he noticed first was the fact that every drawing was done as though the artist was drawing what a specific person was seeing. While this did happen occasionally in comics, usually the artist drew things the second or third person perspective since it allowed for more context. One by one he looked at the drawings until he realized that it was the interior of the containment chamber he'd been secured in by the Justice League after his capture by the military.

_Could I be looking at things through the Hulk's eyes?_ He thought as he committed more focus to examining every detail of every panel for information.

It was one of the biggest fears he had about his curse, not knowing what he'd done as the Hulk, so the chance to fill in the blanks was an opportunity he wasn't going to let pass him by. With almost mechanical precision he turned the pages as he absorbed the actions of the Hulk depicted in each panel. He saw the Hulk pursue the demon lady with obsessive determination. He saw the green colossus trade blows with Miss Freaky, sometimes with help while other times without, but the first piece of good information he discovered was about Willow.

She was alive.

She was alive and in good condition according to Megan, whom he had no reason to doubt at the moment.

That left him a bit puzzled as to why he was, based on his current environment, still the Hulk. From his point of view, the reason he'd changed had been because he'd thought that the evil woman had killed his best bud but if that wasn't the case, why wasn't the Hulk calming down. That answer came on the next page when the hell bitch actually stated that she'd pay Willow a visit to finish her off. Obviously it wasn't the memory of past anger that was keeping the jade giant going but the future threat to Willow and that likely wouldn't disappear until the bitch was dead.

Proceeding through the next few pages, it wasn't until the final five or six pages that he got what he believed was the most current info. The she-demon that had threatened Willow with death had been killed by her boss but, instead of ending the rage, all it'd done was cause the Hulk to switch targets and this proved to be a big mistake. While it was hard to tell from the panels, it looked like the Hulk was getting his ass handed to him in six or seven different ways, all of which looked painful. It didn't take a genius to figure out why because, according to what Cole had told him, the Hulk was about as smart as a box of hammers, so he probably had the fighting skills of a five year old. Anyone with an ounce of skill would be able to outfight the Hulk and, if they had enough power to back them up, they'd turn the green guy into their own personal punching bag.

And that was apparently what this flame headed fellow had done very, very thoroughly.

The last couple of panels showed the Hulk's arms getting blasted off, followed by a punch that obviously left the Hulk unconscious since the final panel was completely black.

_O-kay! So I've literally been disarmed, possibly bleeding all over and old propane puss is probably moving in for the kill right now._ He thought as he tried to decide on his next move, _Megan's probably near me and I doubt this guy's going to let her walk away unharmed._

If he was in control of his body, he'd yell at her to run for it while he charged the big bad in the hopes of buying her enough time to get out of sight, however he doubted that was an option. After considering all the facts, he believed that the reason he'd been unable to remember anything of when he was the Hulk was because he was trapped in the chaos storm circling the pseudo-library. Why he'd been able to break free of it now wasn't important and could be shelved for later. All that mattered was somehow getting Megan the help she was crying out for and he knew in order to do that, he needed to speak with Gaea. He knew that his past conversations with the goddess of the Earth hadn't gone well but he was determined to make it turn out the way he wanted this time.

Sitting down on the floor and assuming the meditative position Dr. Fate had shown him, he followed the same process he had before when he'd tried to reach the being that'd cursed him to be the Hulk. With time being a crucial factor, he sought out the feeling of incredible divine power with every ounce of metaphorical speed he could muster. Every route was explored and every lead followed but it wasn't until he felt the titan sized presence in front of him that he opened his eyes to see a feminine form made out of green energy walking towards him that he knew he'd hit the jackpot. Watching as she approached him, completely unaffected by the chaos that had blocked his recollection of his activities as the Hulk, he tried to think of the best way to convince her to give him control over his body Hulk powers and all.

Not being a master manipulator or genius with words, he decided instead of tripping over his own maze of words he'd just be honest and professional since he still remembered how losing his temper with her hadn't helped last time when he spoke with her.

"I guess you're probably wondering why I want to talk to you," he said before moving on to the bare bones of the discussion. "I know you don't want to put me in the driver's seat as the Hulk because one of the last people you gave this power to went bad, but even you have to know we need a new plan because the this one ain't working. The Hulk you dreamt up and put in control doesn't have the skill or the IQ to take this guy down.

"I know you aren't crazy about putting a human like me in the driver's seat but I don't see a lot of other options. This guy is destroying Washington and killing a lot of people, normal people and heroes that've dedicated their lives to protecting you and the entire human race, and that's something we have to stop. I know asking for a permanent driver's license with Big Green is probably out of the question, so howsabout just this once? Once this fight is over you can put Cave Hulk back into place. That sound good?"

"NO." Gaea said, causing the environment to ripple with her words.

_Should've known that overcoming centuries of mistrust wasn't going to be easy._ He thought as he tried to formulate another acceptable option.

It was then that a promising possibility made itself known in his mind and immediately he began looking through the bookshelves for what he needed. It only took a couple of minutes but eventually he managed to find the book titled 'Solider Boy' and hoped that it contained the remnants of his Halloween possession. Returning to the glowing form, he took a deep breath and presented to her his plan B.

"How about this instead: graft these bits and pieces of Soldier Boy onto whatever personality you made to control the Hulk." He held the book out for her to take, "It's not a complete human mind so you wouldn't be trusting a human and if you tweak it a bit, you can make yourself Solider Boy's commanding officer. That pretty much makes sure he'll obey whatever orders you give him so you won't have to worry about him going AWOL. This'll at least give him a better chance of fighting Flame Face out there and maybe get people to trust him more."

As he finished saying his piece, he waited with anticipation hoping that the goddess would find this arrangement more to her liking. While not him in the driver's seat like he'd prefer, he knew things would be a lot better with Solider Boy making the decisions than the temper tantrum titan. Solider Boy wouldn't cause massive amounts of property damage just because he didn't care if two dozen cars needed to be sent to the scrap heap after he'd left. Soldier Boy wouldn't duke it out with the Justice League unless they went evil or were being mind-controlled or something. People would be reasonably safe around Soldier Boy and the remnants would know enough to take a fight elsewhere to protect innocents. It was the best compromise he could come up with and he seriously hoped it would be accepted.

"ACCEPTABLE." Gaea said before the 'Solider Boy' book disappeared from his hand.

Then, with a flash of light, she was gone, leaving him alone in the pseudo-library with the edges of the chaos storm still whirling about him as violently as before. For a moment he thought that he might be tossed back into the storm since he figured that was Gaea's way of making sure he stayed separate from the Hulk and the giant's actions. When nothing happened for what he considered a full five minutes, he could only conclude that the goddess must be content with leaving him in the eye of the storm.

_Probably because she figures I can't cause any trouble from in here._ He thought as he sat down in the chair nearest the main table. _Not exactly what I'd prefer but in this case I'll take what I can get. Now if only he could get a box of Twinkies and a six pack of Pepsi, I might just be able to get comfy here._

_**Justice League Embassy, Washington DC, Infirmary, Five Minutes Earlier, Willow's POV**_

"Uhhh…whaa…" she said as she opened her eyes and gazed about the room she found herself in.

Her memories were a bit of a mess but, as the fog of unconscious faded, she began to recall more and more. She remembered being used as a hostage by the demon woman the Justice League had been fighting but then the skank had thrown her into the wall, most likely with the intent to kill her. She didn't recall much else before waking up except for some reason she could remember sitting in front of a fire someplace but that memory was very fuzzy. Sitting up in what appeared to be a hospital bed, she looked about and figured that she must've somehow been saved at the last minute by one of the League members because, aside from a little soreness in her back, she felt fine. Looking down at herself, she was glad to see that she was still wearing the disguise she'd picked up for her mission because, much like Xander, she didn't like the drafty outfit hospitals put most patients into. Looking about, she could see that she was alone but was hooked up to monitoring equipment as well as an IV drip but no handcuffs or other restraints.

_Nice of them not to make this too hard for me, _she thought as she started disconnecting herself from the monitoring devices. _I need to get out of here and quick. If I'm lucky I'll be able to spring Xander while the heroes are fighting that demon lady._

While she knew that she was being more than a little optimistic of her chances, it was far preferable to the more realistic scenario that everything had already been resolved while she'd been unconscious. If that was indeed the case, she'd be facing the League alone in her efforts to free Xander and with her bag of tricks confiscated, she was woefully unprepared to face them. Without her bag and the element of surprise, she'd literally have no choice but to face them head on because leaving to try again later was not an option she was willing to accept. Coming back later would only make things more difficult since the security would almost certainly be heightened and they'd have intel on her methods, making things much harder for her.

_No. Better to assume that it's still chaos out there and try to take advantage of it._ She thought as she pulled out the IV and hopped off of the bed.

She was somewhat surprised that no alarms had gone off or that she hadn't been visited by orderlies wondering why she'd flatlined all of a sudden, but she figured that something during the fight must've shorted out some of the building's wiring. Moving over to the door, she flattened herself against the wall and tentatively reached out for the doorknob to see if it was locked or not. A slight turning revealed no resistance so she turned the doorknob even more and was ecstatic to find out that whoever had checked on her last had forgotten to lock the door. Easing the door open while listening for annoying squeaks of hinges in need of oil, she slipped out into the hallway the second the door was open enough to fit through.

Carefully tip-toeing her way down the hall, she strained her ears as best she could so that she'd have at least some warning of incoming military people or super heroes. It was as she turned a corner that she spotted a sign on the wall that gave her an idea of where she was according to the architectural floor plans she'd acquired through her hacking. She was on the third floor on the western side of the building from what she could see, so that meant she had to find a way down two floors before she could get to Xander's cell. Turning right at the next hallway intersection, she tried to walk casually yet quietly since she had her suspicions that looking like you were trying to sneak out would be a good way to make people think something was up.

When she felt the building shake as though it'd been hit with something, she decided that perhaps moving a LITTLE quicker would be alright.

She was just about to open the door to the first staircase when she heard people approaching and, after a moment of desperate searching, she found a reasonable hiding place behind a vending machine. Remaining as silent as she could, she waited for the two people, at least she believed there were only two based on the footsteps, to go away so she could make good on finding Xander and getting away.

"It's getting crazy out there," spoke a male voice as it got closer. "Those alien ships are shooting everything in sight and, according to Mr. Terrific, most of our heavy hitters are either missing or injured."

"I know what you mean. That's why they told us to begin setting up this place as temporary medical relief station," a female voice said in complete agreement. "Win or lose, there are going to be a lot of hurt people out there and the local hospitals aren't going to be able to handle them all."

"Assuming this place is still standing when it's all over," ahe male voice said as the duo got to within twenty-five feet. "With the way they're laying down energy blasts, I give this place five minutes before it's nothing but a pile of rubble."

"Don't worry. The League built this place to take a pounding." the female voice said with confidence. "You don't build a superhero HQ without expecting some uninvited guests."

"I seriously doubt even half the defenses are still working after all those people tried to break out the Hulk," the male voice said with some skepticism in his voice. "I swear they should just toss that monster into a hole and pour in some cement."

"Kenneth!" the female voice exclaimed in outrage.

"What? You saw what he did in Vegas and heard how he fought Superman." Kenneth said, not understanding what was wrong with his preference. "The guy's a walking nuke just waiting to go off. Better to seal him away someplace where he can't hurt anyone then risk keeping him someplace he could hurt people."

"You know as well as I do that it's not the kid's fault!" the female voice said from less than fifteen feet away. "Dr Fate and the others are doing everything they can to get him back to normal and he hasn't been anything but co-operative with them."

"Yeah? Then why'd he go green and escape?" Kenneth asked not liking the different point of view. "Either he's decided to stop being 'co-operative' with them or he can't control himself."

"You weren't there so don't be talking about stuff you just heard about secondhand," the female voice said, trying to end the discussion right there. "Just focus on your job and wait for the League to put a stop to those alien ships."

"Assuming the aliens don't put a top to us first," Kenneth said grudgingly before getting in the last shot. "Still if what I head from Robinson down in the C&C is right we won't have to worry about the Hulk for much longer."

_What?_ She thought even as she did her best to remain concealed.

"What do you mean?" the female voice asked as the duo entered her field of vision without apparently noticing her.

"According to Robinson, the Hulk's getting his big green butt kicked by some sort of flame headed super villain. Really hardcore according to the satellite video footage," Kenneth replied with a bit of optimism in his voice. "I'm telling you, Gabby, if we give this another hour the only thing they'll need to do about the Hulk is build a coffin big enough to put him in."

_NO!_ she thought with fear at the idea of her best friend dead.

Without any warning the vending machine she'd been hiding behind began to go totally haywire, circuits sizzling, light bulbs bursting and a few soda cans being flung from it at pro pitcher speeds. She was so surprised by this that she let out a yelp, which pretty much blew her attempt at hiding clean out of the water. Looking at the duo that had just passed her, they were looking right at her with one of them reaching for a walkie talkie clipped to his belt. She had to stop him! If he put the word out that she wasn't in her room then she'd never get out of the Embassy so she could look for Xander. Reaching out towards the two Embassy employees, she was about to tell them to stop when an arc of crimson electricity leapt from her outstretched hand and struck the walkie-talkie. The electronic device fried under the assault, the plastic parts melting while smoke rose out of the holes, making it quite clear that the object was now fit for the garbage bin.

_What? _She thought as she looked at the hand that had discharged the energy. _How?_

She didn't know how she'd managed the blast but since the duo before looked ready to try and capture her themselves rather than call it in, she decided to shelve the question for the time being. Turning around, she bolted for the door to the staircase and, once she was through, began making her way down as quickly as was safe. She wouldn't do Xander any good if she tripped and fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck in the process. She could hear the duo of Gabby and Kenneth pursuing her and hoped that she had enough of a head start on them to make it out of the building before they caught up.

Throwing open the door at ground level, she could see the damage that had been caused by the numerous attempts to capture/rescue Xander. Seeing it, she agreed at least with one of Kenneth's statements that they'd be lucky if half the systems in the place were still in working shape. Navigating the hallways, she mentally breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted an emergency exit and wasted no time in going through it. Lady Luck stayed with her for one more trick as she found herself staring at the OPEN main entrance to the Embassy with no replacement guards to bar her path. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, she ran through them but soon found herself presented with a new and potentially fatal problem.

The story about the alien spaceships destroying the city was true and that meant driving anywhere in the city was going to be downright hell in the metaphorical sense of the word. Walking there would also be difficult since she'd wager people were stampeding away from the danger while soldiers were making sure no one got onto the battlefield that wasn't supposed to.

_If only I could fly or teleport!_ She thought as her mind desperately worked to find a solution to her problem.

Sadly both options were highly advanced forms of magic and, while she wasn't an amateur in the arcane arts, she was nowhere near the level needed to employ either act of magic. However… the strange things that'd been happening since she'd purchased the headdress didn't seem to be tied to her own magical ability. Firing bolts of crimson electricity, making vending machines go haywire and shorting out electronic locks in her favor were not things she'd been able to do before tonight. The question was could it do something as powerful as teleport her to wherever Xander was at the moment.

How would she even make it do what she wanted it to do?

_Well… when it doubt, pull a Xander._ Deciding to do what her friend would likely do in her position, she pled, _PleaseteleportmetoXanderplea seteleportmetoXanderpleasete leportmetoXander!_

Over and over she repeated the phrase while wishing with all her heart and soul that the crimson headdress on her head would heed her wishes. For every second that nothing happened she doubled her efforts determined to get to her friend in time and rescue him from whatever threatened him. For as long as she could remember, Xander had always been the one coming to her rescue so this time she was going to be the one to save him from harm no matter what.

With that level of resolve reached she felt a surge of energy flow through her and then in the blink of an eye everything changed.

_**Tony Stark's POV**_

"You got that plasma problem locked down, Jarvis?" he asked, peeking out from the shell of a building he'd taken temporary refuge in.

"Indeed, sir, though it is a temporary patch at best." Replied the onboard artificial intelligence, "I would be cautious of putting too large a strain on the armor's power distribution systems as that could cause a relapse."

"Gotcha," he said as he watched the ships continue bombardment without minimal signs of Justice League counter attacks. "Somehow I don't think I'm going to be able to be cautious. Any word on the status of the rest of the League or the military?"

"Three squadrons of F-15 fighters are inbound from Andrews Air Force Base and, according to military communications, all combat certified pilots are being called in." Jarvis replied, bringing up a small GPS screen showing the current locations of the F-15, "ETA on the fighter squadrons twenty minutes."

"Not bad but considering that Stark Enterprises sold them their hardware, I don't know what they can do against these ships." He took to the air, evading incoming fire as needed, "Dad designed them to handle Earth-born threats, not ray guns and spaceships."

"Quite. Tactical analysis indicates that the F-15s will be at quite the disadvantage." Jarvis stated, putting in his two cents.

"What about the League? They got any back up coming?" he asked as he turned his gaze to the ground to locate Helspont.

"Unknown. League communications channels are oddly silent." Jarvis replied, sounding genuinely puzzled, "Normally there is at least some routine communications between embassies but I am picking up nothing."

"Is it possible they're being jammed somehow?" he asked, not liking the worst case scenario his mind was coming up with at the moment.

"Negative. A jamming signal strong enough to block worldwide Justice League communications would register on my sensors and affect other communications networks as well." Jarvis replied as the armor's sensors pinged indicating a possible match to Helspont's energy signature.

"Then the problem has to be happening from inside the other embassies as well as any place with connections to those locations," he said with concern as his hunch seemed to match the facts. "Helspont must have people working for him inside the other embassies and ordered them to do something to cut off the other heroes before he showed himself."

"That would seem likely." Jarvis stated as he maneuvered towards the target his sensors had highlighted.

_I guess we're on our own then._ he thought not relishing on saving the world on his first night as an armored superhero. _Then again, if it was easy to do, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be nearly as impressive._

As the last obstruction between him and the source of the energy signature moved to the side, he beheld a sight that did not bode well for anyone. The Hulk was down and seriously injured with the only positive piece of information being that the jade giant appeared to still be alive, if only just barely. In fact, unless his sensors were malfunctioning, they were telling him that the Hulk's missing arms appeared to be regenerating at an accelerated rate. Best estimate for when they'd be back to normal was about ten to fifteen minutes but, given that Helspont was standing not ten feet away, it was debatable as to whether or not the big guy would have that much time. The villain appeared to be threatening two women, one of whom was a mutant while the other appeared to be extraterrestrial in nature. Closer examination revealed a third woman being held in the arms of the alien and, with enhancement, he recognized the third person as the woman that had been abducted from the Washington JLU Embassy.

_They have less time than the Hulk._ He thought as he immediately descended from the sky and dropped himself between the villain and his prey, _Time to prove I really am a hero and not just some rich boy wannabe._

"Not another step closer, Spooky," he warned as he began to prepare his armor's one trump card.

"ANOTHER BUG THINKS IT CAN DEFY ME? MADNESS." Helspont said as he advanced towards his target.

"Yeah? Well this bug has one helluva stinger!" he said before firing the most powerful weapon he had installed into the suit.

The tentative name for it was the Uni-beam but he was considering trying to find a cooler name for it. Uni-beam just sounded too nerdish and hell would freeze over before Tony Stark used something with a nerdy name or made the name public. Yes he was an inventor and one of the smartest people on the planet but everything he did he did in style with the coolness factor at maximum.

Still, he couldn't argue with the results.

The energy blast from the uni-beam slammed into Helspont and sent the villain flying backwards through the air, past the prone body of the Hulk and into a hole that had been made in a concrete wall earlier in the fight. It wasn't quite as good as he'd hoped, he'd wanted the big bad to go through at least four building before coming to a stop, but given the situation he'd take what he could get.

"Alright, ladies, that's not going to keep him down for long." He turned to the damsels formerly in distress, "Let's get while the getting is good. Any of you need a lift?"

The girl that seemed to be made of liquid metal tentatively raised her hand so, as non-threatenly as possible, he picked her and Helspont's primary target off the ground and activated his boot repulsor jets. Looking to the green-skinned girl, he was somewhat surprised to see her hovering off the ground herself but shrugged since that would make their escape easier. Without further delay they flew off, heading for quickest and safest route out of the city since he figured so long as they kept the silver-clad target out of Helspont's hands the fight wasn't over yet. Maybe they'd catch the mixed blessing of having the three alien spaceships chase after them in which case the battle could be drawn away from the city. True, it would mean that the totality of the enemy's firepower would be directed at them but, last time he checked, the superhero handbook a hero always put the wellbeing of the innocent above his own.

Sadly Fate wasn't done with them yet as his armor gave out a familiar warning, causing him to immediately roll to the right in order to evade an equally familiar energy blast. Bringing up one of his rear exterior cameras, he saw what he figured he'd see and groaned, wondering why being a hero had to be so damn hard. Airborne behind them and closing the gap quickly was Helspont who, amazingly, looked even more furious than before.

_Of course he can fly!_ he growled mentally as he and green girl continued to evade incoming fire from the alien with the flaming head. _It's a part of the super villain package, after all!_

Checking his armor's systems, he saw that he could increase his own velocity if he wished but he didn't want to leave green girl behind, since he very much doubted his two current passengers would approve, plus it went against his personal morals. He had no choice but to accept that he'd be having the spaceships plus Helspont following him out of the city, so he sent up a prayer that his evasion skills would be up to the task.

They weren't.

A blast from Helspont made enough contact with his right repulsor boot to cause more than a thirty percent drop in power to start with and one percent every few seconds afterwards. At the rate the power drop was occurring, he'd wind up crashing to the ground in six minutes or less, taking both of his passengers with him. Spotting the wide open stretch of space in front of the Washtington Monument, he chose accordingly.

"Where are you going?" Green girl asked, no doubt interested in his change in direction.

"My boot's losing power," he explained as he watched the power continue to drop. "I won't be able to fly for much longer so I'm heading for the closest landing zone."

This appeared to satisfy her and, when they arrived at their destination minutes later, he immediately directed what was left of his emergency repair nano-machines to his right boot. He didn't carry a large supply of the micro-machines due to the fact that they were prototypes and had the potential to go AWOL but he needed his flight capabilities back. While agile in the air, his suit was nowhere near as good at dodging on the ground and he seriously didn't like the odds his scientific mind was coming up with regards to taking one of Helspont's blasts dead center.

"HAND OVER THE KHERABIM COMPUTER, HUMAN." Helspont commanded in a way that made it clear only one answer would be acceptable. "DO SO AND I WILL GRANT BOTH YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS A SWIFT DEATH."

He prepared to give the understandably confident villain a piece of his mind when he noticed something that did a better job of catching and keeping his attention. Looking up the sky that moments ago had been a clear, star-filled night was quickly changing as dark storm clouds began to form at a clearly unnatural speed. It wasn't just happening over the Washington monument, either, but the entire city was quickly becoming covered in a blanket of storm clouds, with thunder booming ominously and a random lightning bolt crackling down to the Earth below. However the big showstopper happened a minute later when a single impressive bolt of lightning dropped from the clouds to strike Helspont, sending the high and mighty alien down into the crater forming around him. Judging from the angry growl that came from the crater, it didn't sound like Smokey the Bear's natural enemy was out for the count but the mere fact that he was knocked down was a good thing.

It was then that he saw what looked to be a hammer shoot up into the sky that he got his first clue as to what had caused the severe weather anomaly. He got the second one a few seconds later when a figure descended to the ground clad old Viking armor, with a winged helmet and a crimson cape fluttering behind him in the wind.

"Fear not, brave warriors of Midgard!" declared the blonde Viking as he glared defiantly at Helspont as the fiend rose from the crater. "Though it hast been long since I walked amongst thee, I recognize true evil when I dost see it. I will stand against it with thee and together we shall be victorious. So says Thor!"

Hearing a man in outdated armor proclaim himself to be the mythical Norse god of thunder and lightning was a bit much to take but, based on what the guy had just done, he'd put off recommending that he see a shrink until later. For the moment they had a new ally to help them against Helspont and that ally looked to be powerful enough to turn the entire tide of battle in their favor.

"Glad to have you with us, Thor," he said as took up a supportive position to the left of the man. "Now how about we show this guy how we feel about aliens attacking defenseless cities?"

A warrior's grin was the only response he got and, with a miraculously well-timed attack, they struck Helspont, showing the villain that victory for him was not as certain as the arrogant asshole had probably thought it was ten minutes ago.

_**Wonder Woman's POV**_

_Can't even get near one of them!_ She thought as once more she was forced to veer off from an attack run on the main alien ship to avoid being hit by one of their energy cannons.

Ever since Dr. Fate had successfully helped her defeat the monster harassing her friends, all of them had done what they could to direct their energies towards fighting the alien ships that were determined to destroy the city. Sadly only she and Black Canary had the range to attack the ships since none of the others had abilities that would aid them in reaching the spacecraft. She had tried twice so far to carry them up to the mothership but, much like moments ago, she'd been forced to break off or risk a direct hit. Knowing that they needed help, she'd tried to contact other members of the Justice League but, no matter which nearby embassy she tried, no one responded. She knew for a fact that her communicator was working since she could still contact the Washington embassy but, as far as she could tell, the rest of the world might as well not exist for her communicator. With no new aid from the League coming as far as she could tell, she'd been forced to make do with what she had and it was not enough.

Despite these discouraging facts, she couldn't help but feel a mysterious optimism about how the battle would turn out and for some reason she believed it had to do with the blanket of storm clouds that now hid the stars from sight. Had Zeus chosen to render aid?

No, this did not feel like the Olympian lightning wielded by the ruler of the Greek Gods, but there was an otherworldly feel about it. Whatever the source was, she believed that it was here to help them and to one for whom gods and goddesses were as real as the sun itself it was reassuring.

It was as she was about to make another more complex run on the mothership that she heard the whine of engines and turned to see thirty F-15s flying in formation, approaching the battlefield. While she had no doubt they were there to render aid, she did not believe that they would be able to do any good. With her ability to fly, she was far faster and more maneuverable than any machine flown by the armies of man's world and she was unable to get close to the mothership. If they attempted to take it down, she had little doubt that a great many of them would be destroyed before they got off a single shot. She couldn't let them throw away their lives no matter how much she desired reinforcements against the alien ships.

"This is Wonder Woman of the Justice League to approaching F-15s," she said, using her communicator to broadcast a signal straight to approaching soldiers. "Break off your approach. I appreciate your desire to defend your city but the enemy vessels are simply too advanced for you to handle. I repeat: break off your approach."

"This is Captain Trevor of the United States Air Force. That's a negative on the break off request Wonder Woman," came a man's voice from her communicator. "All of us took an oath when we signed up to defend this country from enemies both foreign and domestic and that includes alien spaceships. We appreciate your concern but we are going in whether you like it or not."

"Even if more than half of you die in the process?" she asked, trying to make the captain see the danger he was flying into even as his last name brought forth a memory of the past.

"Every soldier knows there are no guarantees when they put on the uniform and if it's our time to die, then it's our time," Captain Trevor said as the F-15s passed the point of no return. "Now howsabout we quit arguing and give these something else to worry about? Guardians, follow me in. Eagles and Vipers go after the support craft. Attack!"

With that command the F-15s increased their speed significantly and began launching their own offensive against the alien ships. Not happy about seeing soldiers with insufficient equipment take on a superior force, she decided that she'd do her best to make sure as few died as possible. Diving towards the mothership herself, she noticed that one benefit she'd not foreseen concerning the arrival of the American aircraft was that it gave the aliens more to think about. With the firepower no longer concentrated on her alone, she began to believe that she might very well be able to make it all the way to the hull of the spacecraft. Seeing a chance to end this fight sooner rather than later, she poured on the speed, weaving through both enemy and ally fire alike until, victoriously, she landed on the hull of the mothership. Immediately she made her way to the closest energy cannon and, after digging into the metal with her fingers, brought all her strength to bear in order tear it from its housing.

"HERA! GIVE ME STRENGTH!" she called out to the queen of Olympus as she put forth one mighty grunt of effort.

With a screech born of metal being pushed past its tolerance levels, the barrel of the energy cannon was ripped from the surface of the ship, with small explosions coming from the parts embedded in the spacecraft. Not taking more than a few moments pause, she then threw it as hard as she could at the next closest weapons port, demolishing it before triggering an explosion that took out the entire area around it. She was about to move onto the next one when a section of the hull slid back to reveal an opening that likely led to the interior of the ship. Out if it came what appeared to be humans clad in armor and wielding weapons similar to what she'd seen when fighting the forces of Apokalips. She did not know if these were humans who were being forced against their will to fight for the aliens or were in fact the enemy disguised as normal humans in order to deceive her. Whatever the case, she would try to be careful with them while attempting to get to the access hatch they'd come from. If she could get to the bridge of the spaceship, she could take it out of the battle a great deal more effectively than simply demolishing the cannons one at a time.

Deflecting the energy blasts from their weapons with her silver bracelets, she waited until the first of them reached her before bringing the fight from one of long range attacks to close quarters combat. While she had not believed that they would be human in their physical abilities, it was something of a surprise to see them move so swiftly and prove strong enough to flip a car over. Nevertheless she quickly showed them that however strong they might be, they were no match for a warrior of Themyscira. One by one she defeated them, either throwing them to the side or letting them drop to the hull beneath her feet. With the path clear and the access hatch still open, she began to make her way towards it in the hope of ending the battle as soon as possible.

Hearing a large explosion above her caused her to look upward and she saw that one of the F-15s had been destroyed by enemy fire. She could see the pilot floating down to the city below in his parachute so, for a moment, she believed that there was no need for her intervention. However it was just before she was about to turn away that she noticed smoke coming from the surface of his parachute. Smoke soon became flames and she knew that if she did not act, the man would fall to his death on the streets below. For a moment she was torn between proceeding to the access hatch to end the fight or rescuing the pilot that was less than a minute away from death.

In the end there was no real choice.

Taking to the air she flew towards the imperiled pilot and managed to reach him just as his parachute failed. Grabbing onto him with both hands, she began to descend to the streets below and, once she felt she was close enough, let him drop the rest of the way to the ground.

"Thanks for the save, Wonder Woman," the pilot said as he removed his helmet. "My granddad always told me he'd been saved by an angel but I didn't quite believe him until now."

Seeing the man's face for the first time, the memory that had been pulled at before by the F-15 leader's name came all the way out as she was immediately reminded of the man she'd met undoing Vandal Savage's changes to the time stream.

"Steve…?" she gasped, unintentionally voicing the connection between the man before her and the old man who now resided in a retirement home for veterans.

"Heh, guess the resemblance between me and Granddad is stronger than I thought." The air force pilot extending his free hand with a smile, "Captain Steven Rogers, Junior, m'am. At your service."

What are the odds that she'd meet the grandson of the man she'd formed a connection with five decades ago? She wondered if the Sisters of Fate might have had a hand in this but dismissed it in favor of more important things.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, shaking his hand before turning her gaze back to the fight going on above her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get through that hole in their defenses I created before they find a way to seal it up again."

"Need back up?" Captain Rogers said with an inquiring look.

For a moment she considered politely turning him down but then she thought that if he was half as capable as his grandfather, then there was a chance that he might be able to fare well enough against the aliens to accompany her. With a nod of acceptance, she picked him up and ascended into the sky, once more only experiencing a little more difficulty getting to the mothership's hull since there are fewer F-15s to keep it busy. Once she arrived back on the hull, she picked up one of the energy pistols her attackers had tried to shoot her with and tossed it to the captain.

"Thanks, Wonder Woman," he said giving it a once over. "Time to make a house call."

Nodding the two of them moved for the access hatch and entered the ship, being careful all the while.

They were in enemy territory now and surrounded by technology they were unfamiliar with. Both knew that mistakes would be fatal from here on in.

_**Willow's POV**_

_Mental note: do not do that again without a lot of 'get ready' time._ She thought as she surge of energy she'd felt moments ago faded along with the sense of change.

Opening her eyes, it took a few seconds for them to get everything in focus but, once everything was back to normal, she could see that she was in some kind of alleyway amidst buildings that reminded her of those post-apocalyptic movies she'd seen. Damage and debris was everywhere, nothing looking like it'd escape repair or replacement once the chaotic battle was over and done with. Dismissing such thoughts from her mind, she focused her thoughts on her primary objective, her only objective if she was being honest, and that was finding Xander. Looking about the immediate area, she didn't see him and, considering what she'd heard from the two people back at the Embassy, she was fairly sure that she'd notice a giant green mountain of muscle. Walking in a randomly picked direction, she cringed each time she felt a tremor in the ground that she presumed was coming from the bombardment being done by the alien ships. This was SO above her and Xander's head that the second she found him, she was dragging him away from it and leaving it to the professionals. She knew that as the Hulk Xander was as strong as Superman but everything she had learned about the Hulk said that the giant was out of control and dangerous.

No, better for them to get back to normal stuff like vamps and demons. All they'd need to do was have Giles research how to get Xander back to normal and then everything would be fine.

It was after her second corner that she finally spotted what looked like an ordinary human foot with presumably the rest of the human body obscured by the pile of rubble between her and it. Moving around it quickly, she almost jumped for joy as she spotted Xander lying on the ground unconscious wearing badly stretched pants and nothing else. Dropping to her knees once she reached his side, she tried to shake him awake perhaps with a little more urgency than usual but it got results as her best friend groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"Uhhhh…Willow?" he asked as his eyes focused on her. "WILLOW!"

Faster than she could react he wrapped his arms around her hugging her for all he was worth and she soon found herself doing the same, overjoyed at being reunited with her friend. They stayed that way for several minutes until another tremor reminded them that the middle of a battlefield might not be the best place to stay.

"C'mon, Xander!" she said, trying to drag him in what she hoped was the quickest direction out of the battlefield. "Let's get out of here before we get atomized."

"Atomized? What's going on, Wills?" Xander asked, sounding like he only had a partial idea of what was going on.

"I'll explain later. For now, though: alien ships, shooting up the city, big booms everywhere." she said, breaking down what was happening into the simplest terms possible.

"O-kay! Well since I'm not Hulkified at the moment, I'd say getting someplace safe is probably a good idea." he said, sounding almost like he had actually considered staying.

"Yep! Let's go!" she said as the two of them began to run through the deserted streets looking for someplace safe to be.

Carefully, yet quickly, they navigated what remained of the streets while keeping a close eye on the ships overhead in an effort to get any kind of warning that there'd be incoming fire. It was probably only for this reason that he spotted something strange going on with one of the support ships, like they were attempting to project some kind of hologram, and this caused him to come to a stop just in case it was something not to be missed.

"Xander why are you-?" Willow asked before a loud electronic screech echoed throughout the area just before the hologram snapped into clarity.

"People of Washington DC and heroes present… my name is Hightower." Spoke a man with black hair, big muscles but with a look in his eyes that could not have come from a human. "Lord Helspont has come to this primitive city for one reason: to claim the Kherabim computer known as Void. He cares nothing for this city or its people. Had you allowed his operatives to acquire it, you would have been free to live out your meaningless lives uninterrupted. Instead your 'heroes' have chosen to cause my Lord a great deal of trouble by standing in the way of his mission. Even now they fight him, provoking his fury and leaving him much less inclined to leave this planet untouched once he has what he desires.

"Thus our hand has been forced and an example must be made in order to educate you on the price of such defiance," Hightower said before the holographic image changed. "Five of your greatest heroes are now our prisoners and believe me when I say that it is well within our ability to kill each of them."

One by one, images of Superman, Batman, Steel, the Martian Manhunter and Captain Atom were displayed in holographic form for all to see. They seemed to be restrained with some sort of techno-gear that appeared to be tailor made for each of them. Some were unconscious while others were vigorously trying to free themselves but to no avail.

"There is but one way you can save their lives and stop our assault upon Washington DC," Hightower said as his face returned to the holographic projection. "Cease any and all resistance immediately. Allow us to take what we will and who we will without any further defiance. Do this and your night of terror will end and your heroes will be returned to you relatively unharmed. Continue to resist and you will witness their deaths one by one and then we will unleash the full power of our ships and reduce all of Washington DC to ash in an instant! You have five minutes to choose. Choose wisely."

With that the hologram vanished and, surprisingly enough, the bombardment stopped however just as she thought that the aliens might have made an error, the air around all three ships began to shimmer before solidifying into what could only be called a force field. She didn't know anything about it but what she did know was that it was likely decades ahead of anything the military and perhaps even the League could penetrate. Why else would the alien be so confident? Whatever the case, it had nothing to do with her and Xander. Let the Justice League or the military handle it. If this Lord Helspont wanted some other alien races' computer then maybe they should just let him have it so he'd go away. Tugging on Xander's arm, she began to resume making her way out of the city so they could get on a bus and get back to Sunnydale.

However, despite her tugging, Xander wouldn't move an inch.

Turning back to look at him, she saw him looking up at the alien spaceships with a look she'd seen on his face many times before. It was the look he wore when he'd made a decision and would not back down for anyone or anything. It'd been on his face when he'd made the choice to help Buffy however he could to fight the demons and the vampires. It was the look that had been on his face the night that they'd all learned that Angel had become Angelus once more.

"No, Xander! You're not going to try and rescue them!" she exclaimed loudly, causing him to turn and look at her directly.

"Why not? Why can't I try to rescue them?" he asked her, sounding like he was daring her to come up with a good reason or at least a good argument.

"Well, for one thing you're not a superhero and the only power you have you can't control." she pointed out, reminding him that he couldn't control himself when he was the Hulk.

"Yeah, well… that might've changed." he said, sounding unsure of the facts he had.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping that she could poke enough holes in his position to get him to back down.

"I kinda had a chat with Gaea while I was unconscious and I think I convinced her to put Soldier Boy in the driver's seat of the Hulk," he replied, a look of recollection on his face. "All she said was 'acceptable' so maybe I missed something but if she is willing to put Soldier Boy at the helm then the Hulk could do some real good here."

"And what if she didn't? What if she changed her mind?!" she asked, a bit doubtful that he actually spoke to the goddess of the Earth.

"Then I guess I'll just have to make sure I'm pissed enough at these aliens that the Hulk will do some damage before getting distracted." He said before he closed his eyes and a look of growing anger began to appear on his face.

"Xander, you—" she said, trying to stall him until she could think up a better argument that'd get him to flee with her.

"Enough! I'm doing this Willow so either help me or get out of my way!" he yelled at her as he opened his eyes to glare at her allowing her to see a faint neon green glow in them.

A bit shocked that he'd raised his voice to her like that, she looked into his gaze and realized that he was beyond reason now. He meant what he said and that meant there was only one way this argument could end.

"Fine, but I think I have a better way of getting up there then you going Hulk and trying to punch your way in." she said, remembering how she'd managed to teleport herself to Xander's rough location.

"If that is so then you will need assistance with your rescue attempt." Came a cold female voice from a nearby alleyway.

"And as luck would have it, you got two volunteers right here." A scratchy male voice said from the same place as two figures emerged from the darkness, "So let's get the show on the road."

_**Thor's POV**_

"COWARD! Thou would stoop so low to gain victory!?" he yelled as the ghostly images faded from the sky and what appeared to be magical barriers enveloped the airborne craft.

"DO NOT THINK TO LECTURE ME, **WORM**!" spoke the villain Helspont in a superior manner. "THERE ARE FEW RULES IN WAR. ALL THAT MATTERS IS VICTORY! NOW STAND ASIDE OR WATCH AS THE WORLD IS SHOWN THAT EVEN 'HEROES' CAN **DIE**."

For a moment he did pause in his actions as he considered all that he knew of the situation so that he might make the right decision.

While new to the battlefield, he knew without a doubt who the enemy was for who but a true villain would order his warriors to lay waste to an entire city. Indeed, in the few minutes he had been fighting the being of darkness, he had only had his original impression verified as the lowly being did use many an underhanded tactic against him. He also knew who the valiant heroes were as he had watched the human clad in armor of crimson and gold do all that he could to protect the three maidens in his care. Impossible would it be to make any clearer the landscape of the battlefield and to whose side he should render aid to and so he had acted as honor dictated by throwing Mjolnir at the foul being pursuing the airborne quartet. From there the battle had been joined and, while he did do most of the fighting, his armor-clad ally did provide timely blasts of potent energy when needed to keep their mutual foe off balance.

Now, though, a new but foul element had been entered into the battle and he had to choose how best to deal with it.

The villain known as Helspont had apparently captured five of Midgard's champions and threatened to slay them unless the malicious being was permitted to claim that which he sought to take. He knew little of this world being so new to it but he recognized the man with the S on his chest as being one of the mortal world's greatest heroes and believed he would not be held in poor company by the remaining four heroes. At present he knew not if there were heroes enough to free the captured so that he might smite the enemy before him unhindered but there was another matter to consider.

This foul being, this Helspont, had committed considerable forces to this attack and had himself descended from whatever place of power he possessed to handle the matter directly. That implied much about the importance the villain placed on acquiring what he sought and how far the filth was willing to go to make it his. Would such a being truly leave this city without further destruction should he gain what he desired? Or would he continue to lay waste to everything that could be seen laughing at their foolishness? There was only one choice for him to make and he sent a prayer to his father, Odin, that it was the right one.

"I say thee NAY, villain!" he said as he charged Helspont, his hammer raised to strike. "Though those champions of Midgard will be mourned should they perish, I have little doubt that each of them would lay down their lives in an instant should it be required of them. You shall have no reprieve from battle Helspont! You shall have no reprieve from my THUNDER!"

He brought his hammer down on his foe, with the latter barely managing to evade a direct hit but still being affected indirectly as lightning and stone were sent skyward by his attack. Changing his grip on his hammer, he brought it upwards and across the face of his enemy, staggering Helspont and inspiring him to deliver yet another blow, a downward strike. The arm holding the hammer was caught before the attack could land and he watched as his foe prepared to unleash a blast of energy at him. Thrusting his right knee forward, he buried it deep into the stomach of his enemy, disrupting the concentration needed for an energy blast as well as loosening the grip on his hammer arm. Pulling his arm free, he did not wait long before building upon his momentary advantage, charging Mjolnir with lightning and then unleashing that heaven-born energy upon Helspont at close range. As expected this did stagger the foul being even more than the hammer blow moments before and did even succeed in provoking a cry of pain from his enemy.

However this only seemed to feed the fury of his foe that manifested as the form of the flames that enshrouded the hellish being's head.

With a roar of rage Helspont charged forth and, with speed he had not been expecting, struck a fair punch across his jaw that actually succeeded in sending him to the ground. However he was no stranger to this and used the momentum from the blow to bounce from the ground back upon his feet so that he might meet his enemy on his feet. Whirling his hammer in order to build its momentum, he waited for just the right moment before throwing it at the chest of his foe, only to have it dodged. No doubt his enemy thought he had succeeded in escaping the war hammer's bite but Mjolnir was his to command and, with a thought, he ordered it to change its course and return back from whence it came. Completely unprepared for the attack, his hammer struck Helspont with no defenses to soften the blow or minimize the damage done. This time it was the creature before him was the one to feel the ground's hard embrace and, due to the being's lack of preparation, his foe was dazed by the blow.

"Normally I'd never hit a man when he's down but in this case I think I'll make an exception," spoke his armor-clad friend before he unleashed a volley of energy blasts at the unprepared foe.

These attacks did rock Helspont each time they struck his form but, as time passed, they lost their effectiveness and when the being with the head of blue flame rose to one knee from all fours, he knew he must intervene before the creature fully regained his senses. Charging forth, he placed Mjolnir on his belt and, once within range, he grabbed his foe by the shoulders and thrust his knee right into Helspont's face. Bringing Helspont up to eye level, he let go only to deliver a punch to the fiend's face, sending him flying up into the air for a moment before gravity beckoned the unearthly being back to the ground.

He waited, waited for his foe to rise so that they might clash anew, but as the seconds turned to minutes he began to believe that he had misjudged Helspont's strength.

"Thou art beaten, Helspont! Release your captives and leave this city." he said looking down upon his foe. "Do so and your life shall be spared."

"YOU SHOULD NOT WORRY ABOUT MY LIFE, MORTAL." Helspont said as he raised his head to glare. "WORRY MORE ABOUR YOUR **OWN!**"

Then, without warning, he felt his mind besieged by power most painful and, though it be only peripherally, he could hear the screams of the others as their minds were also assaulted. Barely did he notice when he dropped to one knee but, like ever before when under siege by an enemy, he did bring his will to bear and fought. Bringing as much coherency to his mind as he was able, he looked up and watched as Helspont rose to his feet, confident as tyrants always are in his imminent victory.

"YOU HAVE FOUGHT BETTER THAN MOST, MORTALS, BUT LIKE ALL YOUR KIN, YOU ARE NOT BUT A BUG TO BE CRUSHED BENEATH MY BOOTS." Helspont said as he approached with vanishing disorientation. "I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT AFTER YOU DIE, THOSE THAT YOU TRIED TO PROTECT AND SAVE WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO OBLIVION."

Marshaling his strength, he pushed back the pain, pushed back the power that assailed him, and glared fiercely at his foe as lightning crackled through the air.

"Tis true your strength is great, fiend, but thou hast made a critical error in naming me a mortal." He gathered the strength of the storm in the clouds above him as he spoke and the skies, already dark, grew darker, "For I am no mortal. I AM A GOD!"

With those words he brought down all the gathered power he had placed within the dark clouds above down on Helspont, momentarily deafening all close enough to hear its booming voice.

"AARRRGGHHH!" Helspont cried out in true pain as he was assaulted by electricity unparalleled.

At once the painful power that had assaulted his mind vanished and, while there still was throbbing, he pushed it aside as any warrior would. Pushing off of the ground, he struck his foe with a vicious backhand and followed it with a punch to the stomach that shattered the golden armor that lay there. Even as his enemy was sent flying through several buildings of Midgard, he did feel the need to proclaim himself once more to his adversary.

"I am Thor Odinson, god of the thunder and lord of the storm, and to stand against me is to stand against the heir to the throne of Asgard! Have at thee!"

_**Within the Daemonite Mothership Behemoth, Xander's POV**_

"Definitely understanding what you meant by teleportation being rough on your stomach, Wills," he said as he divided his efforts between holding his stretched pants up and steadying himself on a nearby wall. "Here's hoping that once we free Superman and the others, they'll give us a lift back down to the ground."

"Be silent!" Zealot snapped as she looked about the immediate area, "Our only hope of freeing the members of the Justice League is to keep our presence a secret until the last possible moment. Come!"

A little annoyed at her stating the obvious, he followed her, as did the others, as quickly and as quietly as possible down the corridors of the ship. When she signaled them to freeze they did so and when she told them to advance they followed her lead, making slow but steady progress through the ship. For a moment he was tempted to ask her how she knew where to go but then realized that given how long Zealot had likely been at war with the Daemonites, she probably knew what she was doing.

Still, he knew they had to hurry because, once the time limit was up, regardless of what was promised, he knew that Superman and the others would die. It was an unwritten rule of the universe that the bad guys never kept their words and the smart ones made sure to kill those enemies that could prove a threat to them promptly and permanently. Thinking of that, she wished that his friend would pick up the pace despite the fact that it'd likely get them spotted and caught. The last thing he wanted was to be known as the guy that let members of the Justice League die because he was too slow in getting to them.

Through the twists and turns they went until Zealot told them to freeze and the sounds of booted feet could be heard approaching their position. Looking about, he tried to find a door to a room or maybe some sort of maintenance hatch they could all climb into in order to hide but found none. Growling a few unkind words at whomever had designed the ship, he waited for direction from their self-appointed guide when all of a sudden she darted around the corner with sounds of a brief fight following. She returned later dragging the bodies of what he presumed were dead Daemonite underlings in odd looking purple uniforms that she dropped at the feet of him and Cole.

"Put on their uniforms." Zealot ordered before taking up a guard position. "We will be able to move more swiftly if others believe you are guards escorting two prisoners."

For a moment he hesitated, not knowing where Daemonites stood on keeping clean, but then with a sigh did as he was told since it was a sound plan. He had to laugh a bit as Willow turned away when he decided to ditch his stretched pants but, once he was done, he tapped her on the shoulder to let her know he was now decent. Taking out some sort of energy pistol from the belt the Daemonite guard had on, he looked to Cole before the both of them took up places behind Zealot and Willow with pistols pointed at their backs. For a moment he thought they should put unlocked handcuffs or something but then figured that if a Daemonite got close enough to notice they were missing, they'd likely notice a few other things were off as well.

Proceeding with less stealth and more speed they continued down the corridors, allowing Zealot to covertly lead them while looking as though she was being led. This did indeed allow them to move quicker but each time a minion of Helspont walked by them, he mentally held his breath waiting to see if their deception would be uncovered. It was not until they walked past a sturdy door at the same time as a Daemonite minion that their plan came to an end.

"Where do you think you're going with those two?" the minion asked, sounding annoyed at some perceived mistake of theirs.

"We're taking them to the brig." Cole replied taking control of the conversation, "Lord Helspont's orders."

"Then why did you walk right past it?" asked the minion suspiciously as he ventured closer.

"I'm… new." Cole replied, just barely managing to keep it from sounding like a question.

"Damn podheads!" the minion growled in annoyance. "They should at least teach you newbies the basics before they let you wear that uniform."

With those words the minion went over to a panel next to the door and typed in a quick code to open the door. As soon as the smallest gap appeared all could hear what was happening within and it sounded like one person was struggling to remain conscious while the other was struggling against something with great vigor. As the door finished sliding aside, he was treated to a sight that he wouldn't forget for a variety of reasons some of which were traumatic and others… well, for the sake of his well-being, he'd never breath a word of what he saw so long as he lived.

The first thing he saw was a man who looked to be wearing an air force pilot's jump suit struggling to get back onto his hands and knees, dripping quite a bit of blood onto the metal floor and, from what he could see of the floor, he'd been doing it for a while now. The two guards inside had obviously been beating him and hearing the laughter coming from beneath their face masks it was clear they were taking pleasure in doing so slowly.

"Well, I'll say this for you, human: you can take a beating real well." spoke one of the guards within the room. "The last one we had in here gave up in half the time and started begging for his life. Didn't help him but it was amusing to watch!"

"Yeah! I wonder how long it'll be before you start begging." spoke the other guard in the room with equal malicious humor. "How long do you think it'll be, human?"

"W-when hell freezes over, you bastard!" growled the pilot as he finally managed to get on all fours.

"Then I guess we need to turn the temperature way down in here because, as far as you're concerned, human, this IS hell." the first guard sneered before delivering a kick to the pilot's stomach that sent him back to the floor. "Maybe we should ask your lady friend how long she thinks you'll last. Eh! How about it, woman? How long do you think he'll last?"

This led to the next thing he saw which was none other than Wonder Woman, whose arms, legs and waist were bound to the wall using some sort of high tech restraints. They had to be strong to hold someone said to be in the same league as the Man of Steel himself and seeing her struggle to break free made it clear she was not remaining imprisoned by choice.

"Longer than you will once I am free!" Wonder Woman snarled as once more she strained against her bonds with what was likely all her strength.

"Tough talk for someone who looks half beaten already," spoke the second guard with a brief chuckle. "In case you've forgotten, the only reason you're in here is because you took a hit from our plasma cannon to protect this guy here. Not only did it knock you out cold but it seriously damaged your wardrobe, sweet cheeks."

This was the thing he'd never speak a word of for as long as he lived.

Apparently sometime between when he'd seen her in the Embassy and the present, she'd taken a serious blow because he could see some serious bruising as well as a few open wounds. However the thing that he'd keep to himself no matter how hard someone asked was that the blast had also done a serious number on Wonder Woman's uniform. Her top was literally hanging by a thread, leaving her right breast exposed and, in his opinion, all it'd take to make her completely topless would be one good yank on the left part of her top, which somehow was still keeping her torso partially covered despite there being nothing he could see to keep it in place, save friction. Whatever the case, if Wonder Woman was anything like Buffy or his other girls, they'd kick his ass six times around the world if he spoke a word of what he'd seen to others. True, some might say he has nothing to worry about, being able to turn into the Hulk, but they forgot that it took a minute or two to change, in which time any warrior woman of skill would have no trouble kicking his ass.

It was about this time that they noticed the new arrivals, so he did his best to keep his 'loyal minion guard' façade in place.

"What's this?" asked the first guard with a bit of wariness.

"New prisoners brought in on Lord Helspont's orders," replied the minion who'd opened the door for them. "Newbies fresh from their pods! Didn't even know where the brig was!"

"Newbies? There haven't been any newbies let out of their pods in weeks." The second guard said with his initial confusion giving way to hostility.

With speed that surprised him, both Zealot and Grifter dropped the deception they'd been operating under and charged the three guards. In such an enclosed space and with the element of surprise on their side the Daemonite cannon fodder was not even able to bring their weapons to bear. In the brief skirmish that followed it was made clear that the minions weren't all that skilled and probably ranked no higher than human soldiers of moderate experience when it came to their fighting potential. Against Cole, whom he was certain was spec ops, and against Zealot, who could probably teach Wonder Woman a thing or three, they did not last long.

"We must move swiftly," Zealot said as she sheathed her blade. "Daemonite guards are required to check in with the bridge every fifteen minutes. Depending on how long it's been since they last did so, we may have less than three minutes before they become suspicious."

"Then we better spring the Amazon and get the flyboy here someplace safe," Cole said, holstering his pistols and moving to aid the pilot. "'cause one way or another, we're going to have a fight on our hands soon enough."

"Indeed," Zealot said as she began utilizing the controls on Wonder Woman's restraints to free her.

"Xander!" Willow hissed causing him to look at her.

The look she had was pretty easy to interpret as anger and, after considering his recent actions, he knew she was angry at him for not averting his eyes, considering the state of Wonder Woman's uniform. Startled that he'd made such a mistake given how much time he'd spent around beautiful women, he immediately turned to face the door busying himself by being a look out for more minions.

"Heheheheheh! I think it's a little late to be behaving yourself, Xander." Cole chuckled as he threw one of the pilot's arms on his shoulder and pulled the man up from the ground. "I think we all know you stole an eyeful of the Amazon here."

"I… well… I didn't… I mean…" he said, trying to come up with some sort of explanation that wouldn't be lame or dig him an even deeper grave.

"You needed to maintain your cover as long as possible, so I'll let it pass," Wonder Woman said as the last restraint was removed. "Besides, it's clear by how you're acting now that you're a good young man. Let's just write it off as harmless glance."

"Well she's certainly taking it better than you did, Z." Grifter said with his usual cocky grin.

Zealot, of course, didn't deign to reply to this friendly ribbing, choosing instead to look for something to restore Wonder Woman's modesty.

In the end though it was Willow who volunteered the trench coat she'd been wearing and, after buttoning it up a bit and adding a tied cloth belt, the article of clothing did its job well enough for them to move on.

"Now that we got that settled, do you have any idea where they're keeping the other hostages, Wonder Woman?" Grifter asked, still bearing some of the air force pilot's weight. "Daemonite thugs tend to get diarrhea of the mouth when they think they've already won."

"As a matter of fact they did talk quite a bit," Wonder Woman said with a smile of impending payback on her tormentors and all their comrades.

_**Cole Cash aka The Grifter's POV**_

RING!RING!RING!RING!RING

_And there's the intruder alarm right on schedule!_ He thought as he kept his pistols at the ready. _It won't be long before search teams are everywhere and things start getting serious._

Fortunately now they had a set destination rather than a need to search everywhere on the ship for the captured heroes. While she had been prisoner, the guards had been all too talkative about how her friends were being held on the upper levels in a room near the bridge. Oh, they'd gone on and on about how such big time heroes were helpless before their advanced tech and how 'magic' was just another form of energy to be blocked. With the information gathered, they were on their way to rescue the heroes and once they were free, presuming they weren't all weak as puppies, they'd tear the ship apart from the inside out.

He had to chuckle a bit at the irony of it all.

By holding the heroes hostage, Helspont had given them the means of stopping this attack, if not the entire Daemonite operation, cold. If the Behemoth was destroyed, then Helspont would have serious trouble in more ways than one, not the least of which was his position of authority over the other Daemonites on Earth. Right now old flame face was in the driver's seat because he was among the top three most powerful Daemonites on the planet, with his immediate lieutenants Defile and Hightower being just below him. It also didn't hurt that, when it came to cunning and strategy, the walking fire hazard had a knack for seeing through his enemy's plans and turning them to his advantage. However one thing that was the same for all of them was the fact that weakness could not be tolerated and failure even less smiled upon. If Helspont suffered a serious defeat here, whether it be in terms of a mission or a more personal one, then the other Daemonites of sufficient rank and power would see it as an opportunity to kick him off his throne. Either they'd tried to seize the vacant position for themselves or help those in a better position to do so in return for certain favors or promotions.

The infighting would put any plans for the rest of the world on hold until a new pecking order was hashed out among them.

Another issue would be the fact that, during such infighting, it'd be a breeze for him and Z to inflict serious damage to all sides by playing one against the other. By the time they were done, the Daemonites would be in no position to do anything of note with Earth and could be finished off quickly. That was the end goal for the two of them: defeat the Daemonites and their plans for the planet Earth permanently. While he'd been fine if they all just piled into their ships and left Earth's solar system, he wasn't going to be wringing his hands if they took out each lizard one bullet at a time either. It was one of the big lessons he'd learned as a spec ops solider: sometimes the only way to beat the enemy was to put a bullet in them.

_Of course this all depends on us actually beating Helspont today, so I should probably put any ideas of retiring to the Bahamas with Zannah on hold._ He thought as he began to hear footsteps approaching their position.

Falling into old habits, Zealot was the one to take the lead, drawing her blade and, as soon as the first search team showed, she darted in and immediately finished the fight before it began. All it took were a few precise blows to the communications gear and their throats to make sounding the alarm impossible. While some might think that his partner was killing them, anyone with real warrior experience knew that she was just dancing on the edge of lethal force. A thrust with the sword to pierce a key component of their communicators and a slash to do just enough damage to the vocal chords of their human hosts to prevent speech. Then all it took was a quick one-two combo to knock them out and a pilfering of their minimal med-kits to keep them from bleeding to death. Daemonites, as a general rule, didn't care what happened to their hosts since there were always more to be had but there were times on important missions where they had to keep the hosts they had no matter what. As a result they were all given minimal med-kits, though if you compared them to their human created counterparts, they would be considered state-of-the-art.

All in all it only took Zealot about three minutes to take care of the search team but he knew she could've done it quicker if they didn't have four extra teammates.

Normally they wouldn't have been so careful to make sure that the hosts survived their actions and simply killed them along with the Daemonites inside of them. Most civvies and heroes like Wonder Woman would think that that made them just as bad as the enemy and therefore they should be locked up for murder. What they didn't know is that when a Daemonite took a human for a host, it was not a nice process and could easily be considered severely traumatic. If the Daemonite could be tricked or forced to abandon his host quickly enough then all it'd take would be a couple of years of therapy for the human to recover mentally. For those who'd been hosts for more than six months… it was often better just to put them out of their misery because they either spent the rest of their lives in a padded room or committed suicide soon after being freed. It wasn't right and it wasn't easy but he'd accepted long ago that the world was rarely fair and you had no choice but to take the good with the bad.

"You have great skill," Wonder Woman said with respect, albeit with hints of disapproval.

"Considering she's older than just about any building in the world, she ought to be," he said as they continued towards their destination.

"You're immortal?" Wonder Woman asked with some surprise.

"No. It may appear as so but that is not the case," Zealot said without any further elaboration concerning her age.

He could just tell from the look on Xander's face that he was about to make a comment about women being touchy about their ages but managed to stop him with a look. While he'd appreciate the humor, he knew that his partner wanted the subject dropped not dragged out more. The truth of the matter was that the Kherabim were simply a very, very, VERY long lived race that aged so slowly that the odds of any other race living long enough to see five years' worth of physical change was slim. The reason why his partner didn't want to elaborate on this was because she didn't want those not involved in her people's war against the Daemonites to get too much info on either side of the conflict. To her it'd be a case of amateurs and newbies getting involved in a fight they had zero intel on and making a rather large mess of things, thus making it harder for the Kherabim to win. While he had a slightly better opinion of the people that'd likely want to get involved in the conflict, he did agree that it'd only get messier if more factions were added to the shitstorm the war had become.

_It was hard enough getting her to let me work with her. _He thought with a mental groan as they navigated the hallway. _Had to pull off some pretty fancy tricks just to get her to consider it._

Putting such thoughts aside, he noticed Zealot's level of caution and stealth went decidedly higher than normal. The way he figured it, they must be very close to the room where the hostages were being held and that almost certainly meant more guards, as well as at least one high ranking officer close by. The question now became: how to get into the room?

"I don't suppose the old 'some distract while the rest sneak in' would work here would it?" Xander whispered as they snuck forward by inches.

"No. As soon as they saw enemies in close proximity to their prisoners, they would seal the room, making it impossible to get in without taking down a wall." Zealot replied without breaking from her careful monitoring of the immediate area.

"And that'd be a problem why?" Xander asked still not quite getting the problem. "I thought it was pretty much a given that we weren't going to be leaving this place in one piece anyway."

"The problem is that any delay in getting into the room could mean death for the hostages." Cole replied so that Zealot wouldn't take the kid's head off for asking a question she saw as stupid. "Standard procedure for Daemonites is that if they're in danger of losing the hostages, they kill the hostages. No hesitation. From the moment we show ourselves, we'd have at best thirty seconds before the hostages die and I don't see us getting through one of these walls in less than a minute."

"Willow? Think you can pull a quick 'port into the room?" Xander asked, turning to his friend who looked to be a little twitchy.

"Uh-uh. The last two were luck more than skill," Willow replied shaking her head in the negative. "I'm not loving the idea of seeing if it's three strikes you're out."

_Me neither. _He thought still feeling a little sick at the memory of the teleport up to the ship.

Don't get him wrong, he could handle teleporting just fine, he'd encountered enough weird stuff in his career that near-instant travel between two spots didn't faze him, but he'd rather not be the redhead's training dummy any more often than he had to be.

"Then I guess we've got no choice but to use plan H." Xander said with an oddly optimistic look on his face.

"Plan H? What's plan H?" Wonder Woman asked, sounding about as in the dark as the rest of them.

_I have a bad feeling about this._ He thought as the young man he'd been travelling with began to explain his plan.

_**Pike's POV**_

"Time's just about up," he said as he walked towards the room where the hostages were being held. "Don't know why we waited this long instead of just offing them the second the guy with the hammer clocked Helspont but it that's the way they want it, I ain't gonna raise a stink about it."

"It is not our place to question the orders of our employer, Pike." Said Devin coldly as she walked beside him.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever!" he said not liking the rigid way the Coda warrior acted.

It was one of the many cons of being a merc that you never got to choose who you worked with and, more often than not, only found out who your co-workers were after you'd signed on the dotted line. Still, he was a professional and that meant that unless something happened that proved to be serious risk to his health or his profits, he'd do what he was hired to do and do it right. For the last day or so that'd been to keep anyone from getting too close to the three Daemonite ships, helping in the capture of the hostages and now executing them because people were still standing up to Helspont. Personally he'd prefer killing them in a more… personal manner, so he could officially add their deaths to his reputation. Sure, he'd be killing them either way but killing them using a special containment tube didn't earn the same prestige as killing them by ramming your energized pike through their heads. True, in this case that might prove a bit difficult and perhaps ineffective in some cases but he always preferred taking care of a mark up close and personal.

As he turned the corner and spotted the guards outside of the room, he wondered if their intruders would get here before he pressed the button. When he'd first heard about them, he'd wondered how in the hell they'd managed to get on board with the shields up. To his knowledge, the only asset the other side had that might be capable of it was still unconscious near the Washington monument. Nevertheless, Hightower had ordered a ship-wide alert and for the guards who'd lost the prisoners to be killed for their incompetence. The number two guy had been the one to choose to adhere to the countdown rather than jumping right to the end but, when the time came to do the deed, the metal-armed freak had passed the buck to the hired help.

Not that he had a problem with that.

Still, the alert made for a crowded hallway since S.O.P was to triple the guards around key areas when intruders made it aboard the ship.

"THEY'RE COMING!" yelled a male voice before a trooper ran around the corner like the devil himself was chasing him. "THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND ME!"

With that news the guards that had been outside the room holding the hostages moved to set up a defensive barrier in the direction the threat was coming from. It was a sound move that'd make sure that any oncoming force would be force fed energy blasts so quickly they'd be lucky to get a single squeak out before dying. However he wasn't like these grunts and actually had a working brain inside his head that was telling him something was amiss. The first thing that twigged him as being wrong was the fact that there was a trooper running like a coward away from the enemy when, by all rights, he should've fought to the death. Helspont was quite ruthless when it came to impressing upon the cannon fodder that cowardice was a surer way to die then an enemy's bullet and had produced several messy examples to prove his point. It was rare that anyone under that man's command forgot such examples, so to see that this one had struck him as odd. The second thing that bothered him was that the guards that had been standing in front of the entrance to the room had completely ignored their 'comrade' as he ran by them, proving a distinct lack of intelligence. It also meant that someone had gotten past their defenses with only him and Devin between the cowardly trooper and the door to the room. The final thing that bothered him was the ever increasing gap between the trooper's warning and the arrival of the intruders. The guy had claimed that they were right behind him but, as the minutes ticked by without anything, that was proving to be false. Was this guy a distraction so that the intruders could attack from another direction? Were they even coming here in the first place?

"Well? Where are they, trooper?" Devin asked bringing her clef blade to bear on the breathless piece of cannon fodder.

"Right here," replied the trooper in a threatening tone of voice.

That was all the warning anyone got before the trooper began to grow at a ridiculous rate, shattering his armor and tearing clothes until all that was left was the majority of the pants and enough of the shirt to be called a tank top. For him, though, the priority was the mountain of a man before him that barely fit in the hallway of the ship yet was glaring down at them with bright green eyes. He'd heard the stories and read the reports but neither really prepared anyone for seeing the green giant that was the Hulk firsthand. The big guy looked different from the pics he'd seen but that didn't matter.

What mattered was that he had a definite enemy in front of him and there was only one response to that.

With skill born of doing something a hundred times and hitting his desired target a hundred times, he lunged forward with his energized pike, determined to at least hinder the brute before him until someone capable of defeating him arrived. He smiled as he felt his pike make contact and waited for the exclamations of pain that should have followed but, for some reason, all he got was the smell of burning flesh.

"Was that supposed to hurt, brig rat?" Hulk asked in a condescending tone.

Stepping back, he watched as the unnaturally light scorch mark faded away before his very eyes until there was not a single sign that it'd been there in the first place.

This more than anything else told him that he was just a LITTLE out of his league.

"My turn," Hulk said before lunging forward with speed that someone his size shouldn't have been capable of and grabbed both him and Devin.

Devin stabbed downwards with her clef blade in an effort to free herself but the blade didn't even scratch the skin. That was all he had time to see before both of them were thrown down the hall into the guards who were just getting over the shock of seeing someone go from six feet tall and slim to a little over eight feet with muscles as big as their heads. Everyone went down in a tumble of limbs and that's when things got busy as a group of people arrived that included the Grifter and Zealo,t as well as the formerly imprisoned Wonder Woman. Rolling to his feet, he quickly picked up one of the guards to use as a living shield and so was saved from a series of shots from Cash. Tossing the body at his approaching foes, he brought his pike to its ready position and prepared to deal with enemies that he had better chances of killing.

"We meet again, sister Zealot." Devin said as she squared off against the white haired woman in crimson armor. "I'd thought I'd seen the last of you after our dance in Paris."

"It will take more than the blade of a traitor such as yourself to kill me, Devin." Zealot growled as she attacked, clearly with the intent to kill.

"Oh? Still sore about the sisterhood and I striking out on our own all those centuries ago, are we?" Devin asked rhetorically as well as maliciously. "It was just business."

"It was a betrayal of everything I founded the Coda for on this world!" Zealot yelled as her weapon and Devin's met. "The Coda were meant to oppose the Daemonites and block their efforts to conquer this world. They were NOT supposed to become a group of honorless mercenaries!"

He blocked out the rest of the argument since this wasn't the first time he'd heard those two get into an argument over who betrayed whom and what the Sisterhood of the Coda were supposed to be. He had slightly more pressing concerns in the form of Wonder Woman and Cole Cash, both of whom seemed determined to get past him even if it meant taking him out first. In this case, though, he knew he could handle them as he'd kicked Cash's ass on more than one occasion and, while durable, Wonder Woman wasn't invulnerable as the state of her uniform proved.

"Sorry, people, but you're not getting one step further!" he said as he performed a series of moves that stopped the duo in their tracks.

Even as he heard the sound of something metal being torn from its housing, he knew that the Hulk had ripped the door to the room containing the hostages out of the wall. Under normal circumstances that'd be his cue to throw one of his flash bang grenades at Cash and intercept the person about to free the hostages. However these were far from normal circumstances and he knew he stood no chance of stopping the Hulk from doing whatever the giant wanted.

Helspont could deal with the Hulk.

_**Tony Stark's POV**_

"Repulsor boot repairs nearly complete, sir." Jarvis said as a timer appeared on the HUD, "Estimated time until completion: three minutes forty-five seconds."

"Good. Maybe we can still save the hostages somehow," he said as he continued to provide fire support for 'Thor' while the guy beat Helspont silly with the impressive looking hammer.

It was a faint hope but a hope nonetheless.

He already knew that the time limit that had been set for 'giving up' had already expired but, for some reason, there'd been no broadcast from any of the ships indicating any executions had taken place. He hoped that this meant Helspont's thugs had encountered some problems of the heroic kind but he was realistic enough to think that maybe they were just going to dump the lifeless bodies off the side of the ship. As he managed to hit the head honcho of this attack with two tank busters right to the face, allowing Thor to bring his hammer down on Helspont's chest, he seriously hoped they'd get some sign of which way the wind was blowing sooner rather than later.

Almost as if answering his prayers, explosions erupted from the hull of the mothership and, a few seconds later, the energy shields that had been protecting it flickered and failed entirely.

_I hope that the two lovely ladies back there get a serious case of the hots for me?_ He thought in the ridiculous hope that some higher being would grant this wish as well.

"Someone's taken down the shields on the mothership!" Mercury Girl exclaimed, pointing out the patently obvious.

"It's Xander! He's alive!" exclaimed the girl who looked like the female version of the Martian Manhunter.

_Damn!_ He thought realizing that one not paying attention to him and the other focusing on Willow's friend pretty much meant God wasn't looking to do him more than one favor.

"THOSE FOOLS!" Heslpont grumbled in annoyance.

Without further delay the villain let out a monstrous telekinetic shockwave that knocked just about everyone but him for a loop before taking to the sky in the direction of the now-vulnerable mothership. It took a moment for him and his systems to regain coherency but, once they had, he got back to his feet and assessed the situation. Xander had somehow pulled himself together and was doing some serious damage aboard the evil spaceship forcing Helspont to flee his battle with Thor to deal with it. While the main ship had lost its shields, the two support ships were still protected and seemed to be moving to protect the main ship from those who might try to take advantage of its weakness. He could only presume that Xander had somehow managed to direct his Hulk side to try and free the captured heroes while causing quite a bit of damage to the mothership.

Now the question became what to do now?

The obvious action would be to pursue Helspont and regroup with Xander so they could bring this fight to a close before Washington and her people suffered any more death and destruction. However getting past those support ships would be difficult, especially since he didn't know if they had the ability to fire their weapons while their shields were up. You'd think that they would be able to do so but he was dealing with aliens here and alien tech, so associating human logic with them might not be the best idea. In any case, they'd likely have to fly through some seriously thick energy anti-aircraft fire to get to the mother ship then who knows what else once they were inside.

In the end the decision was taken out of his hands since Thor wasted no time taking to the air in pursuit of Helspont, leaving him and the three ladies behind.

Looking back at the trio, he wondered if they'd be safe enough here that he could go after the loony to fight Helspont and his forces. He was fairly sure that the lady in the silver bodysuit was the one the villain wanted more than anything so, depending on where the guy had any ground troops deployed, leaving might be a bad move.

"Go after Thor," the Martian Huntress said with resolve. "I can get Cessily and Void someplace safe now that Helspont isn't after us anymore."

"Right," was all he said as he watched the timer on the repairs to his repulsor boot hit zero.

Taking to the air, he accelerated so that he could catch up with the wannabe Viking, soon finding out that, yes, the shielded ships could fire their weapons with their energy barriers up. Fortunately it didn't take him long to realize that once he repositioned himself so that a miss would wind up damaging the mothership, the support ships would have to be a lot slower and more careful with their firepower. Deciding to run a test, he diverted the maximum amount of power he could to his palm repulsors and, with sensors monitoring the shields of the support ship, he was targeting he let loose a volley of blasts.

"Status of the target?" he asked as he swerved to evade a joint attack from two separate energy cannon batteries.

"Negligible fluctuations in the energy shields," Jarvis replied, displaying sensor data in the lower right hand side of the HUD. "It's possible that sustained fire from the unibeam could eventually penetrate the barrier to harm the ship itself but it would also severely drain the armor's power supply."

"O-kay! So I won't be putting one downed alien ship on my scorecard," he said as he watched Thor fly high above all the ships whirling his hammer at superhuman speeds. "What is he doing?"

He got his answer moments later when the black storm clouds overhead began to rumble with ever increasing volume and then two separate barrages of lightning bolts dropped down on the two shielded support ships. He was completely shocked to see both vessels actually shudder under the assault and then, without warning, the shields on one of the support craft vanished, leaving it with no protection against the electric onslaught. It wasn't long before the ship was struggling to stay airborne while its partner had ceased firing, likely to divert power to other more crucial systems. Whatever the case, he now had an open route directly to the mother ship and he wasn't about to let it pass him by. Setting course, he flew towards the large ship, specifically aiming for a hole in the hull that looked like it'd give him access to the interior. Landing a minute later, he adjusted the settings on his ocular sensors so he would have the clearest and most detailed visual accounting of his surroundings possible without being ridiculous about it. He felt a thump that let him know that Thor had followed him in but he didn't turn around to acknowledge the big guy. Whether that was because he was focused on getting to the hostages and perhaps the Hulk or because he was just a little intimidated by someone who could call down LIGHTNING like that, he wasn't sure.

"Jarvis? See if you can tap into their internal communications." he ordered his armor's A.I as he progressed down the hallway he'd entered. "We need to get to the Hulk and the hostages quickly."

"I'll see what I can do, sir, but if their systems are incompatible there will not be much that I can do." stated the A.I as a small progress bar appeared on the HUD.

"Just do what you can." he said as he tapped into his suit's external audio receptors.

Normally he just used the receptors so he wouldn't be deaf while wearing the armor but, if he adjusted the settings, he could stretch the range as well as the sensitivity to a level that'd give him a dozen or two feet peak ahead. It was a little weird, hearing things like this, but any edge he could get on an alien ship that he knew nothing about was one he'd take.

It was as he turned a corner that what looked to be some sort of patrol came into view just outside of the range of his external audio receptors. Too bad he wasn't outside of their visual range because that would've saved him from getting spotted and bringing the patrol down on him. Almost immediately he recalibrated his palm repulsors for human sized targets with slightly above S.W.A.T body armor protection and fired at the oncoming hostiles. He smiled as he watched them fall over like bowling pins, since he'd been a little peeved at how little they'd done against Helspont. He'd designed the armor to be cutting edge and capable of holding its own against many of the more powerful members of the Justice League. Obviously, once this was all over with, he was going to have to make some modifications if not build a brand new suit of armor completely from scratch. His scientific mind was already going through possibilities even as he and Thor continued to make their way through the inside of the ship.

BOOM!

BOOM!BOOM!

Feeling the ship shake with each of the ominous impact-like sounds, he thought it fairly safe to say that either Superman had broken free and attacked Helspont or Hulk AND Superman were throwing down with Helspont.

In either case it gave him a far more reliable way of hooking up with the jade giant then having Jarvis hack into the ship's systems.

"Jarvis, forget hacking into their network and calculate the origin of those thumps." he ordered and, less than a minute later, a map plus a green triangle button popped up on the screen.

He shifted to tight space flight in moments and shot off down the hallway towards the triangle, not much caring whether or not Thor followed.

Why care about a man who thought he was the Norse god of Thunder when you could have a green giant with near limitless strength?

_**Willow's POV**_

_It's official! Superheroes definitely have it worse than we have it back in Sunnydale!_ She thought as she stuck close to the injured Captain Trevor Jr., who occasionally took potshots at any minion that decided to come at them.

What had begun as a half-planned rescue of her best friend from the clutches of the Justice League had turned into what would probably be one of the biggest news stories of the year, hands down. Considering that the League tended to save countries during the weekdays and the world every other Tuesday and that made anything that stuck out of that crowd pretty impressive. For her, though, she found herself wishing for a swift return to the normal Hellmouth craziness since at least then the odds wouldn't be so very much against them. Sure, they had successfully managed to free the captured heroes but whatever had been used to keep them chained up had left them weak to varying degrees, as well as somewhat disoriented. It'd take them awhile to get back to full strength and, in the mean time, it was up to Wonder Woman, Zealot, Grifter and a surprisingly intelligent Hulk to fight the baddies. She'd pretty much been expecting Xander to have the mind of a five year old when he changed but right now he was talking like a normal person, albeit a bit heavy on the soldier slang.

"I'm going to kick your ass Barney-style, you fobbie!" Hulk shouted as he took it to the second reason she preferred the demons back in Sunnydale.

It hadn't taken long for her best bud to break the captive League members out of their restraints but, just as they were about to make a break for it and escape, something that looked like a cross between a sci-fi villain and a fantasy movie villain appeared. A flame wreathed, skull-like head, golden tubes serving as a sort of torso armor, taloned fingers and a purple cape that, while tattered at the edges, only added to the fearsome look. The villain had wasted no time in attacking Xander, obviously prioritizing him as the greatest threat, and while the hallway left no room to dodge, her friend quickly braced himself for the energy blast. While Xander took relatively minimal damage from the blast, it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that whoever designed the floors on the ship didn't have the Hulk in mind. Sliding back as a result of the power behind the blast had caused more than a bit of the floor to curl back as though it was cloth.

From there things pretty much progressed to where they were at that very moment: Xander gradually getting closer to a decisive victory over the Big Bad and the rest having similar success against the lesser ranked baddies.

That wasn't to say that the Big Bad wasn't fighting impressively himself but the combination of Xander's strength with the efficient moves of military hand-to-hand combat was quickly bringing victory closer to the side of good. Too bad the villain seemed too prideful to admit his inevitable defeat since that'd probably allow him to leave with his ship intact, along with his body.

_At the rate things are going 'abandon ship' is going to be pretty good advice._ She thought as the amount of damaged ship was vastly outnumbering the parts of the ship that were still intact.

The Big Bad roared as he managed to knock Hulk Xander away, "I WILL **NOT** BE DEFEATED IN MY OWN SHIP!"

"Yeah, you will be, flame breath!" Hulk said as he got back to his feet. "Because even if you're still standing after all this, it won't mean shit if your ships and everyone on them is reduced to scrap!"

Hulk had a point there.

It was like the old saying 'you won the battle but lost the war', which basically meant that winning now would be pointless if it cost you the entire war in the future. However, judging by how violently the flames of the Big Bad's head were flickering, the guy was too pissed at this point to think all that clearly. His two subordinates, glowing stick guy and spear girl, quickly moved to cover his flank while the remaining minions just stood where they were, with some actually shaking in fear of Xander.

"With all due respect, Lord Helspont, I think we've overstayed our welcome in Washington and should quietly exit the area," Glowing stick guy said as politely as he could. "Losing now might taste bad but revenge will more than make up for it at a time of your choosing."

For a moment she thought that Lord Helspont might vaporize the man on the spot for suggesting retreated but, when his eyes narrowed and a growl of frustration escaped his mouth, she knew the Big Bad had made his choice.

"THIS TRANSGRESSION WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN, HULK!" Helspont declared as stood down from fighting position. "OR FORGIVEN! PROVIDENCE! INITIATE PROTOCOL 10!"

"As you wish, Lord Helspont," came a disembodied voice before as flash of purple light blinded them.

When all of their eyes readjusted, the only enemies left in the room were the cannon fodder grunts, whose agitation skyrocketed as they realized that they'd been left behind. All thoughts of continuing the fight must have vanished from their minds as they turned tail and ran as fast as their feet could carry them. She waited a moment to see what this 'protocol 10' was but, as minutes passed without anything to speak of, she wondered if it was something as simple as deleting everything from the ship's computer systems.

Hearing a familiar whine approaching, she turned her head and watched as Iron Man turned the corner with some guy in a Viking outfit close behind.

"We need to get off this ship NOW!" Ironman exclaimed as he landed. "Someone's raised the shields on this ship again AND initiated the self-destruct sequence!"

"WHAT!?" yelled the majority of the room in complete and utter shock.

"What? Have you all gone deaf!?" Ironman snapped in annoyance. "I said the shields are up, which means we're trapped in the ship and it's set to blow in four minutes, making escape a pretty slim option!"

Needless to say that pretty much had everyone go straight to work trying to figure out a way to fix the situation since none of them were big fans of death.

"Can't we stop the self-destruct?" she asked, hoping that one of them would have an idea about how to do that.

"Disable the self-destruct of an alien ship we know next to nothing about in three minutes forty-two seconds?" a guy in a red and black mask asked sarcastically, "Not a chance, Red."

"Then we need to escape." Batman said in a dark gravelly tone of voice, "That means either taking down the shields or somehow getting out with them still up."

"They said this room is near the bridge. We could bring down the shields there!" Wonder Woman suggested optimistically.

"Shields would be a high level function. Probably password protected and that's assuming the controls there are still functional," Batman pointed out even as his own mind was likely working on a solution.

"What about Red here?" Red Mask asked, sounding like he was cautiously optimistic about his own suggestion. "She managed to teleport me, Zealot and Big Green here through the shields easily enough. Not something you want to do on a full stomach but it's still an option."

"Uh-uh! I'm not sure how I'm even doing it!" she exclaimed not wanting to be their only way off the ship, "All I'm doing is wishing really hard and it happens! I have no idea how many I could take or where we'd end up!"

"Considering what'll happen if we stay here too long, I'd be willing to take my chances." Captain Atom said in a very soldiery tone of voice.

"Perhaps I can offer another option." Came an odd triple toned voice just before a vortex appeared out of nowhere in the hallway and three people popped out.

The first was a woman in a skintight silver bodysuit that only left the face visible and gave the impression that the woman was bald underneath the suit. She also had eerie glowing white eyes that made her seem more like a machine in human form, despite the fact that there was definitely a human expression on the face.

The next was a redheaded girl who looked like a female version of the Martian Manhunter, albeit a lot more human-looking even with the green skin. With a blue cape that went just past her waist, a white T-shirt with a red X on the front, a blue skirt and boots to complete the package, she really looked like she belonged in the League. However, and this could be her imagining things, she looked like she was doing her best to stay behind the other two people and not be noticed.

The final arrival was a redhaired girl who looked to be made from living liquid metal that, while presently shaped like a perfectly proportioned college student, could change in an instant. One thing that struck her as a bit odd though was that the girl was, for all intents and purposes, naked and wasn't trying to cover up one little bit. True, the level of detail in the body was roughly what one would expect from a clothing store mannequin, so one could trick themselves into thinking 'spandex' but still the girl's lack of modesty still seemed off.

"Glad to see you're alright, V-girl." Hulk said as he approached the first woman who was apparently named Void, "Think you can evac us all off this sinking ship?"

"I'll need to recharge completely if I'm going to get everyone but yes." Void replied with a look of resolve on her face.

"Anybody see some live wiring or got some electricity to spare?" Hulk asked turning to the others.

"If the lady doth require power then let her partake of Mjolnir, for it has plenty." The Viking offered, bringing an impressive war hammer up from his belt.

_Mjolnir? Isn't that supposed to be the hammer wielded by the Norse god of thunder Thor?_ She thought before casting a brief sensory spell and hastily shutting it down.

The power that the spell had shown her before she'd shut it down had been near blinding and that pretty much made it clear to her that she wasn't looking at some pretender. The man holding the hammer that Void was reaching out for really was the Norse god of thunder and it made her wonder just how much crazier her adventure was going to get.

As Void touched the hammer, they all watched as electric like energy leapt from the hammer into the floating woman and then, like she'd touched an open flame, the lady pulled back her hand.

"Astonishing… such power…" Void gasped before she regained her composure. "Prepare yourselves."

A new portal formed that encompassed the entire hallway before Void got sucked in like liquid soap going down a flushed toilet. The guy in the mask and the lady in the red armor were the first to go through, followed by the metal girl and the female martian manhunter. From there everyone began to run through and, afraid of being left behind, she helped the wounded Air Force pilot to his feet and began to walk with him towards the portal. It was slow progress due to her lack of physical strength and his injuries but both were determined to make it no matter what. It was as they reached the halfway point that a large pair of hands picked the two of them up a good three feet off the ground.

"Need a lift, Red?" Hulk asked with a smile before he accelerated towards the portal and leapt through the portal.

Then the world twisted, the world turned, and when things finally straightened out, they were no longer on the ship but instead in front of the Washington monument.

"Captain Atom? Think you got enough in you to handle one more thing?" Superman asked looking at the silver coated soldier.

"Consider it done," Captain Atom replied before taking to the air and flying straight for the still shielded mother ship hanging in the sky, smoke floating up from various points of damage.

"What's he doing?" she asked wondering why the man would be heading back to the same ship that they'd just barely escaped.

"When the ship's self-destruct initiates, there will be a massive discharge of energy." Batman replied looking on as events played out, "The odds are good that the residual energy from the ship's shield will take the brunt of the attack but that's still a lot of energy coming down on the city. The Captain's going to use his powers to absorb as much of that energy as possible."

"Couldn't Superman or someone just push the ship out to sea or something?" she asked liking the idea of a massive explosion happening someplace else.

"I'm not strong enough at the moment to move something that size that quickly out of the city, much less out to sea." Superman replied, indeed looking quite fatigued.

"Besides, by now the state troopers will have evacuated most of the civilians from the immediate blast area and, providing Atom can take care of the rest, damage should be minimal." Steel stated, working on a panel in one of his wrist shooters.

Then, almost as if to pass the point of no return, the sky lit up like it was suddenly daytime and everyone who'd been used to the night turned away to minimize the blinding effects. However the most they felt in terms of heat was a potent current of air as it passed over them but it didn't last long before things returned to the stillness of before. If she strained her eyes, she could see a figure hovering in the air soaking up energy like a sponge and, when there was nothing more to absorb, the person flew high into the sky before vanishing from sight.

As the people gathered looking at Washington, they realized that while they might have saved the city from complete destruction, there was no denying the shape it was in.

It would be many a year before everything was restored but, as the nation's capital, she had little doubt that it would recover.

Recover and endure.

_**Iron Man's POV**_

"Sir, you may want to leave the area shortly." Jarvis said through the helmet's internal speakers, "We have multiple military gunships incoming as well as several aircraft that are not in my database."

"Show me." He ordered before following the indicators his artificial intelligence was putting on his HUD.

It didn't take him long to spot the mass of dots on the horizon and, thanks to a little image magnification, he soon saw the aircraft he'd been warned about. While he'd anticipated the military rushing in as soon as they figured it was safe, he'd hoped that they'd have at least half an hour since that'd be enough time for the jarheads to be absolutely sure they had an accurate read on things. Whatever the case, Jarvis was right that leaving shortly would be a good idea because he wasn't keen on answering any questions or letting anyone in the military get a good look at his armor. For the moment his identity was still a secret and he intended to keep it that way for as long as possible, with that being for the rest of his life if he had any say in the matter.

"Look, it's been fun, but I think it's time for all us non-Leaguers to call it a night," he said out loud to the collected group of people. "Seems like the next shift is here and I'd rather not stick around to chat."

"Ah, yeah, not looking forward to some more army boys." Xander said having since transformed back into his more human looking form, "Hey Void? Still got enough juice to get us outta here?"

"You're leaving? What about your problem with Gaea?" Superman asked, sounding a bit surprised by his choice.

"Well, as you saw on the ship there's, a new personality in the driver's seat of Big Green," Xander replied with a half-smile. "Turns out the deal I managed to broker with Gaea worked out. Assuming she doesn't change her mind, Soldier Boy will be in command every time the Hulk comes out. With that being the case, I'm less of a ticking time bomb and more like the best kept secret of the Harris family."

"What about the rest of them?" Steel asked, finished with whatever maintenance he'd been doing to his own armor. "Grifter and Zealot are still criminals, so there's no letting them go. I'm sure J'onn would like to ask green girl over there a few questions too."

"No. They all go." Batman said, surprising just about everyone there.

Not surprising since, if he had an accurate assessment of the man, the caped crusader wasn't big on trusting unknowns and always liked to have all the blanks filled in before making a decision. That and calling the man a bit paranoid probably wouldn't be too far off the mark.

"With everything that's happened here, the military will have enough leverage to get Harris transferred to their custody, even with Ross' earlier involvement," Batman explained in response to the questioning looks. "As for Grifter and Zealot, I think we can all agree that if the majority of their crimes were committed trying to stop Helspont and his forces, then they can be… overlooked just this once."

This definitely got people shocked but not him because he knew that the dark knight would be something of a hypocrite if he came down hard on the desperado duo for using tactics similar to him. The only thing he'd likely take issue with was the habit both Grifter and Zealot had of being a bit bloodier with their foes than the league tended to condone.

"So long as they show a bit more restraint in the future, I see no problem with letting them go," Batman said with his cape concealing everything below the neck. "As for the rest, I think we can let them go with a stern warning."

"Okay, who are you and what've you done with Batman?" Steel asked, clearly not believing what he was hearing. "No way would the man I know go easy on anyone, no matter the reason if they broke the law."

"The fact that Ross was able to get troops for his little operation means that there are others in the military and perhaps the government who share his point of view. Add to that the revelations about these… Daemonites, and I'm suspicious about who might really be calling the shots." Batman explained without any weakness in his voice. "Letting them go will force these unknowns to take action on their own. Actions I can discover and trace back to their source."

"In other words, we'll be the carrot and you'll be waiting in the wings with the stick when these moles poke their heads out in the open." Xander said with a little sarcasm in his voice.

"Exactly," Batman stated, sounding completely unapologetic.

"What about Pris?" Miss Martian asked sounding concerned about her friend.

"She's committed no crimes and was only being held due to her connection with Harris." Batman replied, turning to the source of the question. "She'll be released within the next twenty-four hours once the paperwork's been filed."

"Yeah! Great! Now can we get out of here because I think the people in the choppers have seen us," he said, getting increasingly nervous at the vanishing distance between them and the military.

"If Batman thinks this is the way to go, then I'll defer to his judgment on this matter." Superman said, sounding like he was acting on his faith in the caped crusader more than his own personal opinion. "Get out of here. We'll settle things with the military."

With that Void opened up another one of her portals and, with speed born of wanting to evade capture, the group of non-leaguers ran through the portal to be spirited off to parts unknown, save Void herself. It took a moment once he reached the other side to reconnect to the Stark Enterprises satellite but he was impressed to find himself just a couple of hours north of Los Angeles. Not even the fastest aircraft on the planet could cross that kind of distance in such a short amount of time and it made him want to sit down and have a serious chat with the 'woman' when they had the time.

"Okay, so we're clear of the military and the League'll run interference for us, at least for a little while, so where to now?" Grifter asked, sounding like he wasn't in favor of standing around in the middle of nowhere all day.

"Well, according to my suit, we're just a couple of hours north of L.A." he replied, getting everyone's attention despite his suit modulating his voice. "If you'd all be willing to follow me, I have a place that shouldn't be too far away where we should be able to make ourselves comfortable while we make up our individual minds."

After a series of nods and agreements, the group began to move as a whole, with people who could fly (or leap really, really far) carrying those who could not.

_It's a good thing that I already told Dad I wanted the Powell estate as my own personal west coast home._ He thought as he flew at a leisurely pace towards their destination._ It'll make it easier getting these guys inside without anyone being the wiser._

It was as he pictured, a relatively remote house filled with people who could easily fit the label of 'superhero' that an idea occurred to him that set his brain a buzzing.

_**1800 Palos Verdes Drive, North of Los Angeles, Two Days Later, Xander's POV**_

"What do you think this big meeting is all about?" Willow asked as they walked towards the main dining room where Iron Man, aka Tony FRICKIN' Stark, had called them to moments ago.

Yeah, that had been a shock and a half to find out that the armored hero, the guy who Willow had been chatting with for the past few years, was actually Anthony Edward Stark, son of Howard Stark, who was C.E.O of Stark Enterprises. Willow had fainted the first time the guy had popped his mask off and had a few near relapses afterwards until her brain finally got used to the idea that she'd been talking to and, in some cases confiding, in a multi-BILLIONAIRE who was in GQs top ten. As an interesting side note they'd had ample reason to hasten her into a calm state of mind when she started sparking crimson electricity that fried several nearby electronic devices. He'd asked her what was going on but all she did in her still somewhat shocked state was point to the M-shaped headdress on her head. He decided that it'd probably be best to wait on inquiring further, at least until his best bud had a chance to settle down a bit more.

In any case, once they'd arrived at the estate two days ago, Stark had advised them to take a load off and try to unwind. The guy had said that he had a proposal for all of them but needed time to prepare and figured that they'd appreciate some down time before he sprung it on them all. While some had just wanted to say their goodbyes and head back to their respective lives, he and Willow had actually been interested in hearing what the young billionaire had to say. In any case, all vocalizations of departure desires were ignored by Stark since he left the room they'd been in post haste. So when faced with the choice of staying or finding their own way to their respective destinations, everyone chose to stay.

Of course in some of their cases, it might have to do with the fact that the place was decked out in all the latest luxuries and gadgets with a fully stocked kitchen and a pool in the back.

The next day they'd been informed that Tony had sent his personal assistant, a Miss Pepper Potts, to pick up Priscilla Kitaen from League custody and bring her to the estate. It had only taken a couple of hours but seeing the joyous looks on the faces of Megan and Cessily at being reunited with their longtime friend made for a very heartwarming sight. With the joy of the reunion and all, no one pressed Stark to fess up about what he was up to and so the group spent more time enjoying the expensive things in life to the fullest. After all, why not enjoy it when it was all going onto the tab of someone who can easily afford a hundred times what was contained in the estate.

Of course his willingness to wait might have something to do with the fact that all of the ladies, including Zealot, miraculously enough, took advantage of the swimming pool in the back. With a specially prepared changing room filled with swimsuits for both genders, no one could say no and, when he saw what kind of ladies swimwear Stark favored, 'no' might as well not have been in his vocabulary. At first he'd thought that it might be dangerous for him to get… excited… by the lovely scenery but apparently when you're not clamping down on your emotions every waking hour, they get much easier to deal with. Plus there was the fact that the few times he got too revved up, Soldier Boy Hulk wasn't all smash, crash and bash but rather a lot like him.

He went through a few swimsuits until they found one that'd stretch far enough.

In the end, though, today was the day apparently for Stark to spring his big idea on them and, while there'd been no solid proof to indicate what it was, he had an idea that connected all the dots nicely.

"I got a few ideas but I think it's best if we wait and see." He said as they entered the dining room to find everyone else already there.

Some, like Cole and Pris, had brought a snack with them while the others just sat with moderate patience, waiting for the meeting to get going.

"Well, now that Xander and Willow are here, I'll get started with this meeting," Tony said from the head of the dining room table. "First off I hope you all have enjoyed your two days off at my expense. I know I did." This he said while looking at the ladies with an expression on his face that had several of the women glaring at him.

"Nonetheless, I know that you don't want to be kept here any longer than necessary so I'll just cut to the chase: I think we should form our own team." Tony said before going silent in anticipation of what happened next, namely a lot of yelling and questioning plus one or two objections but eventually it all died down allowing Stark to continue.

"To what end?" Zealot asked, her voice as cold and professional as ever.

"For one thing, if these Daemonites are as serious of a threat as you've told me, then we can't leave them alone. They've operated right under the Justice League's nose, as well as every other law enforcement agency's nose, for years without anyone being the wiser," Iron Man replied, explaining his reasoning to the collected group of people. "That means they've either got moles on the inside eliminating harmful data or their tech is advanced enough that no one legal can spot them. That has to change or we'll probably find ourselves with more citywide battles in the future.

"There's also the fact that we just proved that we can be just as good as the League and we haven't had a single training session together. If we're this good now, imagine how good we could be if we actually worked at it." Tony said with a proud grin on his face. "Besides, I think it's about time that the League had some actual competition in the super team game."

While he didn't share the man's interest in becoming the Justice League's rivals, he had to admit that if all the diverse people here actually worked to become a team they'd be a force to be reckoned with. The only things he could think of that'd set them apart from the League would be the fact that they had members willing to stray further from the public's perception of a superhero. There was a difference between doing what was right and what was necessary, with most current superheroes being incapable of doing what was necessary if it conflicted with their idea of what was right. He, along with Zealot and Grifter, however knew that sometimes you had to enter the gray area between right and wrong if you were to succeed in stopping evil. Willow, and probably the rest of the ladies, were probably still stuck in the civilian mindset of what heroes should be like but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It'd be people like them that'd keep the rest of them from straying too close to the dark side and remind them of what they were really fighting for.

He didn't know what was going on inside the head of Thor but, if he was anything like the myths said, then he'd likely be in favor of fighting, if only for prestige that came with facing down incredible odds and coming out alive.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm out." Cessily said, sounding like being a superhero is the last thing she wanted. "I didn't make it out of that cluster fuck just to dive back in and I know that Pris wants to get back to her life just as much as I want to get back to mine."

"If that's your choice then you can leave anytime you want." Tony said in a perfectly casual tone. "Though you're going to need a new place to live and probably a new job. I was perusing the after action reports on the Washington battle and both your apartment and the club you worked at were completely demolished by Daemonite cannon fire. Sure, both will probably be rebuilt in a couple of months or so but until then you're going to have to bunk with someone and see if any of the still standing clubs have any openings. Assuming your former co-workers haven't already filled those positions already."

This made the liquid metal girl cross her arms and growl a bit, most likely because she realized that the rich boy was right. He'd seen the news broadcasts estimating the amount of damage Helspont and his forces had caused during their one night attack. Optimistic projections put complete restoration of destroyed buildings, infrastructure and utilities at about four to five years and that'd only be the case if the League sent members to help things along.

"If you stick with the team for a while, though, you'll get a steady paycheck, a roof over your head, food and maybe just maybe I can get you a special rate once they finish rebuilding your apartment building." Tony said, offering a compromise of sorts. "I might even be willing to make a donation to your former place of employment to so they can get back on their feet. What do you say?"

For a moment it looked like Cessily was going to resist further but, with a barely audible growl of annoyance, she nodded in agreement to Stark's offer. While it wasn't in his nature to turn away from a fight once he saw the good reason for it, he could understand somewhat where the metallic redhead was coming from. She'd essentially been an innocent bystander dragged into the conflict by association, without possessing any motivation unique to herself. If she wanted to leave the fighting to others, he was hardly going to get on her case for that but he'd be lying if he wouldn't miss her a bit. The last two days had given everyone a chance to get to know each other and he found that he liked all of them and could easily see himself becoming good friends with all of them.

Well, except maybe Zealot, but that was more because of her glacial personality than anything she'd said or done to him personally.

"Anyone else opposed to the idea?" Iron Man asked, looking about the people assembled before him.

Silence was all he got in reply to his question and, looking at the faces of the others, he didn't think anyone was just busy formulating their negative response.

There was one thing that had him a bit concerned so he decided to voice it.

"Assuming we all make it to the big team debut, we're going to need a name for the team," he said, pointing out an important fact. "I don't suppose you have one in mind."

"I was thinking of making it 'The Defenders'. Simple and to the point," Stark declared, sounding quite in favor of his team name.

"Not really. It makes it sound like we'll always be on the defensive and that's not always the best way to win a fight." Cole pointed out, treating the whole discussion very casually.

"How about… The Avengers?" he suggested, remembering a TV show he'd once watched with Giles at his apartment during one of their rare slow weeks back in Sunnydale. "It's got both offensive and defensive interpretations. Plus it sounds cool. Unless someone has something better in mind?"

Everyone in the room looked at him with eyes that were distinctly wide, as though they couldn't believe he'd suggested such a corny name. He knew his tastes were a little different than most peoples but he still thought 'The Avengers' was a pretty cool name for a superhero team. He was just about to withdraw his decision when he saw a big smile on the face of Tony Stark that made him pause.

"I like it. Dramatic, unique and with a bit of nostalgia that the old folks'll like." Stark said before looking at the group, "All opposed?"

Silence.

"All in favor?" Iron Man asked, waiting to see what they'd say.

"AYE!" declared everyone at the same time making it clear everyone was unanimously in favor of the name.

"Then mark it all down on your calendar, people. Today is the day the Avengers step up to the plate and start their journey towards becoming Earth's mightiest heroes." Tony said with as much speechifying grandeur as he could.

Everyone took a moment to soak in the momentous occasion and think about the future that was ahead for them.

No one had any idea just what they were committing themselves to or the marvelous things they would see along the way.

If they did… well, they'd still probably have formed the team but they'd have probably done more to be prepared.

_The End?_

_**Epilogue**_

"STATUS REPORT." Helpont demanded as he fumed upon his throne.

"We have just received confirmation from the last of our new sleeper agents," Dockwell replied as he stepped away from a console. "He confirmed that his insertion succeeded without incident and will follow standing orders until told otherwise."

"GOOD. THEN THINGS PROCEED APACE," Helspont said with at least some satisfaction in his voice. "THOUGH AT GREAT COST. THE LOSS OF THE BEHEMOTH IS A SETBACK THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED."

"Perhaps the damage can yet be minimized, Lord Helspont." Dockwell said tentatively, though with a bit of confidence. "The humans are already salvaging what they can of the Behemoth, as well as the support vessel. I believe they will try to make use of it and perhaps use it to build a ship of their own. Perhaps we could help them… guide them… then, when it is finished, we could take it for our own."

"AN INTERESTING PROPOSAL," Helspont said before turning to another figure in the room. "WHAT DO YOU THINK, LIEUTENANT S'RYN?"

Stepping forward into the light was a woman clad in a costume that was a mix of blue, black, white and green that clung to her curves and emphasized her fit figure. With raven hair spilling down her back she was the dream of a great many men and a source of jealousy for many women. However what more important than all that was the fact that her face was known to a great many people and that she was a member of one of the most powerful groups in the world. Or at least that is what could be discerned with eyes alone.

The truth was far more terrible.

"I think it would be quite satisfying indeed to see the humans destroyed by their own creation," S'ryn replied from within his new human host. "It should be almost as amusing as the looks on their faces when I use the body of their ally The Huntress to betray them."

"INDEED. NONE OF THOSE SO-CALLED HEROES REALIZE THAT EVEN AS WE ACTED TO ACQUIRE THE KHERABIM COMPUTER, WE WERE ALSO PLACING AGENTS INTO THEIR ALLIES ELSEWHERE." Helspont said with a malicious delight, "THIS IS BUT THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS REUNIFICATION. IT WILL NOT BE THE LAST."

Brig Rat = person who has served much brig time, a habitual offender.

Barney-Style = to perform an action in sequence and strictly according to regulations, idiot proof, oversimplified for the benefit of lower-intelligence people

Fobbie = A marine who rarely sees combat


End file.
